


you light my morning sky with burning love

by woodchoc_magnum



Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [22]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Comedy, Crossover, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Firehouse 118 Crew as Family (9-1-1 TV), Fluff and Smut, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), original cat character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:48:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29694588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodchoc_magnum/pseuds/woodchoc_magnum
Summary: In which Buck heads off to Texas with Bobby and Chimney for a mini-Lone Star crossover, and Eddie is tortured by the terrible trio of Sophia, Adriana and Maddie.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816843
Comments: 161
Kudos: 424





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I kept the summary pretty vague, but this instalment is jam-packed - this is the final chapter in the Cooper arc, so don't worry, he's not coming back!
> 
> Buck's also heading to Dallas to meet the only characters from Lone Star that I like (except for Grace), so please enjoy the Songs Universe 911 Crossover Event.

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight," Chimney said, holding up his glass, Maddie at his side. "We weren't going to have an engagement party, but…"

"Buck talked us into it," Maddie finished for him, looking over to where Buck and Eddie were standing near the bar. "And we also thought that we haven't had everyone out for karaoke in a _really long time._ "

They all groaned, and Maddie laughed gleefully.

"And what I want to say is that I know it took us a long time to get here – maybe longer than everyone thought," Chimney continued, sharing an affectionate look with Maddie. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"What's the date?" Hen called, cackling when Karen elbowed her.

"Towards the end of the year," Maddie replied. "November or December. We haven't booked a venue yet, but when we do, you'll all be the first to know."

"We're still trying to figure out how to upstage Buck and Eddie," Chimney added, raising his glass at them.

Eddie leaned against Buck, smirking. "They can't," he murmured smugly, and Buck laughed, brushing a kiss to his cheek.

When the laughter died down, Chimney became unexpectedly serious. "I just want to say again how happy I am that you're all here to celebrate with us, and to Maddie…" he turned to her, and she beamed up at him, her eyes sparkling. "I love you."

"Ditto," she replied, and kissed him firmly.

Everyone cheered. Buck wrapped his arms around Eddie from behind, a little emotional. "I kinda wish we were getting married again."

"We could get married every year if you want, just the two of us," Eddie suggested. "You want to get married again tomorrow?"

"Yep." Buck kissed his cheek, swaying him back and forth. "Do you want another drink?"

"No, I'm good." Eddie's phone began to ring, and he sighed, pulling it out of his pocket. "It's Soph. I'll be right back."

Buck released him, and then wandered over to the bar, slipping onto a stool and ordering a beer. Someone pushed in beside him, and he glanced over at Cooper, who already had a few drinks under his belt when he'd arrived at the party.

"Yo, I'll take a vodka and Coke and a Seabreeze," he said to the bartender, drumming his hands on the bar, glancing at Buck. "Hey man."

"Hey," Buck replied, as Cooper leaned against him heavily. "You good, man?"

"Yeah, see that girl over there?" Cooper turned, pointing to a woman in a green dress near the pool table. "I'm going to blow her mind tonight."

Buck raised his eyebrows. "Okay. Good for you, man."

"She has no idea," Cooper said in a low voice. "I'm open to anything, you know – guys or girls – but when I met her, I knew right away that she was the one. Look at her – she's _gorgeous_. She's gonna be screaming my name."

"Consensually, I hope," Buck said dryly, as his beer was set down in front of him.

Cooper laughed and elbowed him. "Yeah, man, of course. No means no, right?"

"Yep." Buck handed over some cash, and took a step back. "Later."

"Hey, wait," Cooper said suddenly, yanking on his elbow. "You know I’m sorry, right? Like, you can stop being mad at me now. I said I was sorry."

"There's no rule that says I have to forgive you," Buck replied, as Eddie re-entered the bar, a harried look on his face. "Let me go, Coop."

"I just really hope we can be friends again," Cooper said, but Buck just nodded at him and headed over to meet Eddie.

Eddie pocketed his phone, shooting Cooper a death glare. "What'd he want?"

"To apologise, _again_ ," Buck replied – as he had done several times since the incident at the pier. "What's up with Soph?"

"She has a migraine," Eddie said, visibly worried. "She didn't want to say anything before we left, but… now she needs help."

"Okay, I'll come with you," Buck offered, looking around for Maddie. "They'll understand."

"No, I don't want to take you away from Maddie's engagement party – she was already upset that Sophia couldn't come." Eddie glanced at his watch. "I'll go, and you text me when you're ready and I'll come pick you up?"

"I'll just get an Uber, or Bobby to drop me off," Buck replied, grasping his shoulder. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

Eddie apologised to Maddie and Chimney and bid farewell to everyone, and then led Buck out to the car. "Don't get too rowdy," he said, flashing Buck a grin. "Come home a little sober, all right?"

"Aw, but you like drunk Buck," he teased, tugging Eddie in for a kiss. "Don't you want to be woken up by drunken Buck?"

"I want to be woken up by _sober Buck_ ," Eddie said in a low voice, cupping his butt, "and then I'll give sober Buck a blow job."

"Don't make promises you won't keep."

Eddie nipped at his lower lip, raising his eyebrows. "When it comes to you, baby, I keep my promises."

They kissed, long and slow, until Eddie's phone buzzed, and he pulled away, sighing. "You gotta go," Buck said, kissing his cheek. "I'll be home in a few hours. Call me if you need me, all right?"

"Be good," Eddie said, giving his butt a quick pinch before unlocking the car. "Don't get up to any mischief."

"Who, me?"

~

He returned to the bar, where Hen and Karen immediately dragged him onstage to sing _'Love Shack'_. After the song he escaped them and grabbed another beer from the bar, settling into a booth with Bobby, Chimney and Albert.

"So now that you aren't going to be one of my groomsmen anymore," Chimney said, wagging an accusing finger at Buck, "you don't get to come suit shopping with us."

"Maddie said that she's taking Eddie, Christopher and I suit shopping," he replied archly. "So I don't need you."

"This is the annoying thing," Chimney said to Bobby, gesturing at Buck. "It's _my wedding_ , right? And Buck and Eddie are going to stroll in looking like fucking runway models in their matching suits—"

Albert cleared his throat. "Excuse me."

"I stand by it," Chimney declared. "You have no idea what it's like being related to these two. I'm a victim here. When we're out in public, everyone is staring at them."

"Probably because they're kissing all the time," Bobby said dryly, chuckling when Buck threw him a wounded look.

"Do you want people staring at you?" Albert asked reasonably.

Chimney threw his hands up. "I don't want to be overshadowed at my own wedding."

"I'll make sure she puts us in powder blue suits or something," Buck replied, rolling his eyes. "To make you happy. Can't have the groom pissy on his big day."

"At least we won't be having any family drama," Chimney remarked, tipping his glass at Buck. "Your parents aren't invited."

"Thank god for that," Buck said with relief. "I haven't heard from them in months. I guess it'll just be up to me and Albert to get a little messy, huh?" He reached out as if to fluff Albert's hair, laughing when Albert ducked him and raised his fists jokingly.

"All because you think _you're_ the favourite uncle," Albert teased.

Buck raised his eyebrows and murmured, "I _am_ the favourite uncle."

"She said my name first."

"She didn't say your name, she said 'bah-bah-bah' which could also mean _Buck_ ," he shot back. "You really want to go there, second favourite? On Chim's big night?"

"Okay, okay," Bobby interjected. "Both of you, cut it out. She's a baby."

"She knows what she likes," Albert murmured, and then sipped his beer.

"And it's not you," Buck added with a grin.

Albert narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm the one who babysits all the time," he pointed out. "You're always too busy. And you're going to be having another kid soon, so… you're out of the running. I'm number one fun uncle."

"Do you know something I don't?" Buck asked him. "How do you know I'm having another kid soon?"

"Everyone knows you and Eddie are talking about it," Bobby replied. "It's only a matter of time. I figured you guys hadn't been married that long and you were letting a year go by before you started the process."

Buck shrugged. "Has Eddie said something to you?" he asked curiously. _Because he hasn't mentioned it to me._

"No, but he was looking at surrogacy agencies online the other day."

Buck pursed his lips. " _Really._ "

"Oh no, trouble in paradise," Chimney teased. "Communication, Buck. It's very important."

"Yeah, yeah," Buck replied, rolling his eyes, but making a mental note to bring it up with Eddie. "It doesn't matter, because I can still be an awesome uncle even with more kids of my own. One hundred percent. And Christopher loves Charlotte, so… I still feel like we've got this."

"Maybe my daughter's affections aren't a competition, Buck," Chimney suddenly said pointedly. "Huh? Huh? You two should be like, _empowering her_ or something."

At that, they all exchanged amused looks. "Are you drunk?" Albert asked him. "You sound drunk."

"I'm not drunk, I’m just happy," Chimney replied, swinging his beer wildly, and promptly sloshed it on Albert. "Shit."

~

Half an hour later, Buck found himself alone. Albert had found a beautiful girl to talk to; Chimney and Maddie were slow dancing together; Bobby and Athena were doing their little flirty thing at their own table, and Hen and Karen were hanging out with Josh and some of the other 911 operators.

Buck checked the time on his phone and decided to head home. He was in the process of sending Eddie a message when someone thumped into the booth opposite him, and he looked up to find a sweaty and dishevelled Cooper, swigging on a beer.

"You leaving?" Cooper asked him.

"Yeah, I'm heading out."

Cooper made a face, nodding. "Denise dropped me. You know, sometimes I think it's easier to date guys, don't you? Like, if I went on Grindr right now, I'd have someone for the night."

"So do that then," Buck replied absently.

"There won't be anyone I want."

Buck's eyes were trained on his phone, and he didn't notice Cooper staring at him. "Well, go home alone," he said, texting Eddie. "It's not a big deal."

"Were you ever on Grindr?" Cooper's foot knocked against his under the table, and he immediately pulled his leg back.

"Um, yeah, when I was younger and single." _Babe, I'm heading home, catching an Uber, will be there soon xx_

"I bet you got so many guys."

Buck made a face. "I guess so."

A message from Eddie lit up his screen. _Waiting up for you xx_

He smiled, sending off some hearts in response, and then ordered an Uber. "All right, I'm gonna jet," he said to Cooper, pocketing his phone and rising to his feet. "See you at work."

"Yeah," Cooper replied, watching him go. "See you."

Buck went to say goodbye to Maddie and Chimney, waved to everyone else, and made his escape. His Uber arrived swiftly, and twenty minutes later he was walking through his front door, and Eddie was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him.

"Hey," Buck whispered, slipping out of his jacket. "How's Soph?"

"She's pretty sick," he replied. "The kids are all asleep, but Max has been acting like a fucking dick all night."

As if on cue, Max the cat suddenly sped out of the living room, fur flying, and went tearing into the kitchen.

"What's his problem?" Buck asked, taking a seat beside Eddie on the stairs.

Eddie grimaced. "I'm pretty sure we have a mouse."

"A mouse."

"Yeah. I saw something skitter across the floor while I was in the kitchen a couple of nights ago, and I thought my eyes were playing tricks, but… he's been stalking something all night and I can't figure out what it is."

Buck sighed. "So we can't tell the kids, because we want to kill it."

"Right."

"So we need to find it tonight."

"Yeah." Eddie wrapped his hands around Buck's bicep, leaning against him. "Did you have a good night?"

"No, I missed you." Buck pressed a kiss to his temple. "It was only okay."

Eddie smiled at him. "I saw a video of you singing."

"Chimney," he guessed, and Eddie nodded. "Couldn't help himself."

"It was pretty terrible."

Buck laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I know. Okay – how are we going to kill this mouse?"

"We'll have to find it first. Let's follow Max around for a bit and see if he leads us to it."

~

Max was a cat accustomed to a certain amount of leisure time – he spent more time sunning himself in various spots around the house than he did anything else – but it turned out he also had a knack for mouse-hunting. They simply watched him sniff around the couch, low to the ground, body flat to the floor, and when he suddenly began to bat underneath vigorously, the small grey mouse hiding beneath made the mistake of trying to make a run for it.

They both had brooms, and when it darted out in front of Eddie, he swept it over towards Buck. The mouse went sliding across the floor, legs akimbo, and was scrambling to escape Buck's sweeping motion when Max, out of nowhere, landed on it with a thud, and grasped it in his claws.

"Oh god," Eddie whispered, trying not to laugh. "Buck, get a bucket."

The mouse tried to wriggle free, but Max chomped down on it – he looked about as vicious as they'd ever seen him. His pupils were huge, tail flicking from side to side, ears flattened.

Buck returned with a bucket, with no idea of what to do with it, until Eddie said, "Lay it sideways on the ground. Max is going to let it go."

"How do you know that?" Buck whispered, but did as he was told.

"They always play with their food," Eddie replied, ready and waiting with the broom.

Sure enough, Max did a little hop around and released the mouse – stunned, it sat still for a moment before trying to sprint away, until Eddie swept it with the broom, directly into the bucket. Max made an attempt to chase it but Buck turned the bucket upright, and the brown mouse was trapped at the bottom, squeaking furiously.

Eddie leaned on the broom, grinning at him like the cocky bastard he was. "How'd you like that?"

"That was pretty sexy," Buck replied, as Max wound between his legs, looking up at the bucket desperately. "Now what?"

"We kill it."

Buck held the bucket out to him. "Your job."

Eddie nodded, taking it from him. "I've got some Ratsak in the cupboard. You need to give Max some treats or something so he settles down."

Buck fed and played with Max while Eddie murdered the mouse. He took the bucket outside and returned empty-handed, locking the door behind him. "Good job," he said to Max, who purred up at him. "Very good cat."

"He's finally earning his keep around here," Buck said proudly.

Eddie scratched under his chin, and then picked him up. "Come on, let's put you to bed with your kid."

~

They locked downstairs, and Eddie went into the bedroom while Buck had a quick shower before joining him. Eddie was already asleep, on his side under the blankets, so Buck flicked off the lamp and turned the brightness on his phone down low, scrolling for a while.

Hen had already posted pictures from the party on Instagram, and he scrolled through them. She'd taken a snap of him and Eddie early in the night, smiling for the camera, and he was zooming in on it with a grin when he noticed who was in the background. Cooper, his arms folded across his chest, positively glowering in their direction.

He made a face, zooming in even closer, totally confused. Sure, they weren't really friends anymore, and Buck kept his distance as much as possible, but… the open hostility in the photo had him concerned. He zoomed in and out, puzzling over it, and finally decided that Cooper was probably just having a bad night, and the sour expression on his face wasn't anything to do with them specifically.

He flicked through the rest of the pictures curiously, and then came across one at the end of himself, Bobby and Chimney, with Cooper standing off to the side in the background, openly staring at him. Confused, Buck zoomed in again, chewing on his lower lip.

"Mmm," Eddie murmured in his sleep. "Baby."

"Go to sleep," Buck whispered, twisting his lips as he examined the photos.

"Hmmm…"

He glanced down at him and found that Eddie's eyes were still closed. "Are you awake or sleep talking?" Buck whispered to him.

There was a long silence, and then Eddie said, "I told her we didn't want any apples."

He chuckled. "Sleep talking." He went back to his phone, looking up Cooper on Instagram curiously. BigCoop98 was easy enough to find, and his pictures were a mixture of shirtless selfies, photos of himself with various good-looking people, and photos from around the 118. Buck even found himself in a picture, off to the side, not the focus.

He put his phone down, glancing at Eddie again, and then lifted his hand and pressed kisses to his fingers. Eddie shifted in his sleep, murmuring under his breath.

It was probably nothing, he decided, setting his phone on the bedside table. Cooper had been struggling; he didn't have a lot of friends at the station and everyone's patience was worn a little thin. He probably wasn't having a great night.

Reassured, he tucked in close to Eddie, and was on the brink of sleep when Eddie suddenly murmured, "Did you wash the car? We have to get lemons tomorrow."

Buck leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Yep."

"Mmm." Eddie stirred, and then opened his eyes. "What?"

"Ah, you're awake. You were sleep talking again," Buck whispered to him.

Eddie let out a breath, rubbing his eyes. "I was? What time is it?"

"After midnight."

"Mmm." Eddie settled against the pillows again, sighing, and then lifted his head. "I promised you a blow job."

"I'll take a rain check on that." Buck cuddled in close to him, running his fingers up and down Eddie's arm.

"In the morning," Eddie promised. "Definitely."

"Definitely," Buck murmured, slowly drifting off to sleep. "Anything you want."

* * *

"Good morning," Sophia announced, placing a steaming mug of coffee down in front of Eddie. "I would like to speak to you both about my future."

"Sophia, we have been awake less than half an hour," Eddie said through a yawn.

"You're feeling better," Buck commented, taking ingredients out of the fridge to make breakfast. "Frittata? Is everyone happy with frittatas?"

Sophia pointed at Buck. " _He's_ awake; what's your problem?"

Buck flashed Eddie a grin. Eddie couldn't say to his little sister, _Well, Buck's very happy because I woke him up with the blow job I promised him last night_ , so instead he replied, "He's more of a morning person than I am – and yes, babe, whatever you want to make."

"No onions in mine, babe," Sophia said to Buck, and he saluted her.

Eddie rested his head on his hand, regarding her seriously. "What's going on?"

Sophia was amped up, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Well, I feel like my migraine was a blessing in disguise," she said brightly. "I woke up in the middle of the night to an epiphany."

"And what was that?" Eddie asked as he sipped his coffee.

"We're going to move out," she said firmly. "Yes, that's right – I feel confident enough to tackle life as a single mother without needing the security blanket that is the both of you."

Buck and Eddie exchanged a look. "Good for you, Soph," Buck said, slicing an onion. "I'm sure Maddie would love to help you find somewhere to live."

"I've already texted her; she's on it." Sophia looked back and forth between them. "You're not going to stop me?"

"You're an adult, why would we stop you?" Eddie asked mildly.

"So you're happy to see me go, and after everything I've done for you," she said accusingly.

Eddie smirked. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you both just seem very happy to be rid of us," she replied haughtily.

"Do we?"

Buck groaned. "Guys…"

Sophia and Eddie were sizing each other up. "You know, I'm not going to miss you either," she snapped. "You two are so annoying."

"Are we?" he couldn't help but ask, just to see her face turn red.

"Stop," Buck interjected, waving a spatula at them. "Cut it out. Soph, we're sad to see you go."

Sophia narrowed her eyes at Eddie, who bit back a grin and said, "Yeah, of course we are."

"Well, I'm not going just yet," she said, sliding into the seat opposite him. "I have to find somewhere to live. Martin's finally agreed to pay child support, and it's not much but it's better than nothing."

"We'll help you," Buck offered. "Whatever you need, okay?"

"Thanks _Buck_ ," she said, shooting Eddie a glare. "That's very nice of you."

Eddie rolled his eyes at her. "You know you can stay here as long as you want."

"Well, I'm just thinking that… you guys are talking about starting your family, right? Which means we need to have a discussion about…" she trailed off, and then pointed to her stomach. "These eggs are just going to waste, yo."

Surprised, Eddie said, "I didn't want to ask – if you've changed your mind, that's okay. We'll figure something out."

"Hey, I never changed my mind," she said bluntly. "Martin was the one who tried to tell me what to do with _my body_ while he was running around with someone else. I should've left him then and there."

Buck added diced peppers and bacon to the pan, glancing over at her. "You got out when you were ready," he said. "You don't have to feel bad about not leaving sooner."

"But I do. And I feel bad that you guys thought that I wouldn't want to give you my eggs. They're really good eggs; top quality," she said in her best used car salesman voice. "Very low mileage; reliability guaranteed."

"Yeah, but how many miles do they get to the gallon?" Eddie teased, and they laughed at each other.

"You Diaz's are weird," Buck commented.

"You're one of us now, Buckaroo, get used to it," Sophia said, and then raised her eyebrows at Eddie. "What do you say? Are you still interested?"

"Yeah, of course. I just didn't want to put any pressure on you," he replied. "I've been looking into surrogacy. There are agencies who can help us find someone suitable. I've sent off a couple of enquiries."

Buck turned around, tilting his head to the side. "You have?"

Eddie nodded, shrugging at him. "Yeah… watching you play dad to all the kids in the house lately has me thinking that… I need more of that."

A slow smile crossed Buck's face. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're a really good dad," Eddie said emphatically, and Buck turned pink with pleasure.

"A great dad," Sophia agreed. "My kids love you… and honestly, if they didn't have to share a room, they probably wouldn't want to leave."

"We could fix up the other downstairs bedroom," Buck suggested. "I know there's a lot of stuff in there, but the bed is decent and we could empty it out a bit."

"No, they're okay – Lila usually ends up sharing my bed with me, anyway." Sophia rested her head on her hand, gazing at him. "Surrogacy is a long process, I think."

"Yeah, that's why I thought I'd at least start," he replied. "And then if it takes a year or more to find someone, at least we're in the running."

"You're so smart," Buck said, leaning over to kiss Eddie's forehead. "But you really need to wake our kid up."

Eddie checked his watch and winced. "Shit. Okay. To be continued, Soph," he said, and hurried out of the room to check on Christopher.

~

The first call-out of the morning took them to a rich neighbourhood in Beverly Hills – a sprawling, gated community, with high fences and electronic gates. Eddie was peering out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the mansions lining the street, when Bobby's voice came over the headset.

"Okay guys, this might be a grim scene," he said. "The initial information I received from dispatch is that a woman has been mauled by a wild animal – they're saying a cougar?"

Buck and Eddie exchanged a confused look.

"A cougar," Chimney's voice came over the radio. "A cougar came down from the mountains and into Beverly Hills?"

"That's the information I'm getting. I'm not sure what we're going to be dealing with when we get in here, so just be prepared for whatever we might be facing."

"Where's the cougar now?" Eddie asked Bobby.

"Nobody knows," Bobby replied. "We all need to be careful."

Buck's face was screwed up. "Does this seem weird to you?" he asked Eddie, who nodded. "There's no way a wild cougar would actually do this."

"I guess we'll find out," Eddie replied, as the truck came to a stop.

They could hear a small dog barking as they exited the truck. Eddie pulled on his turn-out coat, just in case, and followed Buck and Bobby up to the mansion. The enormous front door was ajar, and they could hear the echoes of a woman crying inside the cavernous house.

"LAFD!" Bobby called, leading them into the marble foyer. Hen and Chimney were carrying their medical kits, and Cooper was bringing up the rear.

Eddie looked up – there was a gold chandelier over their heads, and a twisting marble staircase leading up to the second floor.

"Wow," Buck whispered from beside him.

They exchanged a look with high eyebrows, trailing after Bobby.

"Hello? LAFD!" Bobby shouted again, bypassing a white baby grand piano in search of the crying woman.

They rounded a corner and bypassed a wall of gold statues. Buck's eyes were huge, and Eddie paused for a split second to examine an Oscar, shaking his head in amazement.

"In here!" a trembling voice called. "Please help!"

They went through two more large sitting rooms and finally located the woman – in her 70s, sitting on a chair with her leg propped up, breathing heavily. Blood was pouring from the jagged, open wound in her calf, and her skin was so white it was almost translucent. Eddie vaguely recognised her – she was a famous actress, but he couldn't remember her name.

Hen and Chimney immediately swung into action, kneeling beside her and checking her vitals.

"Ma'am, you said there was a cougar?" Bobby asked, looking around.

"It wasn't a cougar," she said, breathing heavily. "It was my cat."

"Your cat," Buck asked quizzically. "Your house cat did this?"

Eddie suddenly pictured Max with the mouse, and had the terrifying thought that maybe their sweet kitty could potentially develop some kind of blood lust and kill them all.

"Yes, I have a pet serval," she said, hissing with pain when Hen inspected the wound to her leg.

"A serval," Bobby repeated slowly. "You mean… a wildcat? You own a wildcat?"

"He's not wild; he's domesticated," she said sharply. "But… he attacked me and my granddaughter, and I don't know where they are."

Bobby was trying to stay professional, but his lips were drawn disapprovingly. "Ma'am, what's your granddaughter's name?"

"Jessica," she replied, tears filling her eyes. "She's only twelve, and she loves the cat… Please find her."

Bobby nodded, gesturing for Buck and Eddie to follow him. They went out to the large, lagoon-style pool area, and Eddie caught a glimpse of a realistic waterfall cascading gently into the swimming pool. "We need to find the cat and the granddaughter," he said. "Can you two search the house? Stick together. You're both wearing your turn-outs, so—"

"If the cat attacks, we're a little protected," Eddie finished for him, exchanging a look with Buck. "Got it."

"I can help?" Cooper asked from behind them.

"No, I need you here with me," Bobby said sharply. "Guys, I know this place is huge, but be as quick as you can."

"Copy that," they said together, and jogged off through the house.

"Okay, so that's the eastern side," Buck said, gesturing to where they'd just exited. "Let's do the western side and then head upstairs. And Eds, if we find this cat, be careful, okay? It's not like Max."

"It's a cat, how big can it be?" he asked, confused.

"It's an African wildcat – like, it lives on the savannahs of Africa and hunts prey. It's like a mini leopard," Buck explained. "They're never really domesticated; they always maintain a wild streak. It depends on how far down the breeding line the cat is – but if it's attacked her, and done that much damage? It's not a regular house cat. She called it a serval – usually the ones they breed with domesticated cats are called Savannah cats, but she might actually have the real deal."

"So explain to me why someone would have one of these?" Eddie asked as they entered the sprawling kitchen, with its backyard views and black countertops.

"Status, plus owning wild animals is kind of a rich people thing," Buck replied, stopping suddenly. "Is that blood?"

Sure enough, there was a smear of blood on the white doorframe.

"Yeah, it definitely is. Jessica!" Eddie called. "Jessica, can you hear me?"

There was a low, noticeable growl from the next room, and they both stopped in their tracks.

"Um…" Buck swallowed hard, reaching out to wrap his hand around Eddie's wrist. "We don't have any weapons."

"We're gonna kill this thing? You want to kill someone's cat today?"

"Well, what else are we going to do?" Buck hissed at him, as another low, ominous yowl came from the next room.

Eddie stopped, ignoring Buck's desperate tugs on his arm to make him move again. "I refuse to believe that this cat is bigger than Max. It's a _cat._ "

"It's a wild animal," Buck whispered – and sure enough, a cat almost two feet tall stepped out from the next room. It was sandy yellow in colour, with black spots and stripes dotting its body. Its paws were enormous, but Eddie couldn't stop staring at its blood-stained face, fangs exposed, snarling at them.

"Holy fucking shit," he whispered, instantly putting himself between Buck and the cat. It was _not_ a regular cat, at all. "Okay, baby. Back up."

"Eddie—"

"No – you need to go out to the truck and get an axe."

"We're not axing a cat!"

"What the fuck else are we going to do?" he retorted, as the serval dropped low to the ground, its rounded ears flattened against its head. "Oh fuck. I'll distract it, but you gotta go. You have to go."

"Eddie," Buck protested, but Eddie was pushing him towards the door with one hand and reaching for a broom leaning against the wall with the other. "Eddie!"

"Go!" Eddie shouted at him, shoving Buck through the door, and then yanking it shut.

He faced off against the cat, trying to control his breathing. Cats could sense fear, right? This cat was waiting for him to run, and instead he squared off against it, holding the broom out in front of himself like a shield.

"Good kitty," he said, trying to keep the nervous tremor from his voice. "Nice kitty. Sweet kitty."

The serval let out an elongated, high pitched yowl, baring its fangs again.

"Big day, huh?" Eddie asked, slowly backing towards the fridge. "You had a bad day? Yeah, I get that… you want some food? You want something to eat that's not human?"

The cat hissed at him, flattened against the floor, hips lifted and ready to spring into action.

Eddie reached behind and carefully opened the fridge, breaking eye contact long enough to take a glance at the contents. There were a couple of raw chickens in plastic on the shelf, so he grabbed one out and held it up. The cat's eyes followed it with interest, clearly recognising that it was food.

"Good kitty," Eddie murmured, tearing open the bag. "Such a good kitty. You want some chicken?"

The cat seemed to relax, and sat up to attention, tilting its head to the side. Eddie ripped off a drumstick and held it up, and the cat readied itself, wiggling with anticipation. When Eddie tossed the drumstick to it, it leapt off the floor gracefully and caught the piece of chicken in its mouth, before settling down on the floor to gnaw at it.

"Good kitty," Eddie said again, looking up as the door cracked open, and Buck peeked in. "You're such a good kitty."

Buck held up an axe, but Eddie shook his head. "Are you sure?" he hissed.

"Yeah, go around and see if the girl is in that room," Eddie said to him. "And then close the door on that side. I think I can get out of here as long as it's distracted by food."

"Are you okay?"

"Yep, I'm fine, I'm feeding it chicken."

"Okay; hang tight." Buck set the axe down against the wall and closed the door again.

The cat finished the drumstick and looked up at him expectantly, licking its lips. Eddie ripped off another piece of chicken and held it up. "Hungry?"

The cat let out a chirp, waiting expectantly, and when Eddie tossed the next piece, it snatched it out of the air with both paws and thumped to the ground, tearing into the flesh with sharp teeth.

"Eddie," he heard Buck call from the other room. "She's in here."

"Is she alive?" he called back.

There was a long pause. "I've got a weak pulse. I need you in here to help me; the old woman crashed, and the others are trying to save her."

"Okay." Eddie ripped another few pieces off the chicken and made his way to the door, keeping his eyes trained on the cat, which abandoned its piece of food and followed him. "Good kitty," he said firmly. "Good kitty."

The cat's eyes began to glitter again, and he held up the entire chicken carcass, shook it back and forth, and then threw it to the other side of the room. The cat skittered after it, sliding on the marble floor, and Eddie took the opportunity to duck out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Buck was on his hands and knees beside a prone figure on the carpeted floor; blood pooling around her. Eddie ripped off his gloves and knelt beside him, checking her pulse. "You called for back-up?" he asked, and Buck nodded, securing a tourniquet around the open wound on her left thigh.

She'd been mauled – there were gouges to her hands and arms, a deep slash across her chest, and a bite mark on her other leg. Eddie checked her pulse again. "We need to get her out of here; she's not going to make it."

"I'll get the backboard," Buck replied, rising to his feet and sprinting out of the room.

Eddie did what he could to close the wounds, listening to the cat growling from outside the door. Footsteps thundered towards him, and Buck burst back into the room with Chimney and Bobby, dropping beside him to help.

"We've got to get her to the hospital," Chimney said urgently, helping them slide her onto the backboard. "Is it the femoral artery?"

"I think so; Buck put on a tourniquet," Eddie replied, as the cat thumped ominously against the door.

"Is the cat trapped in there?" Bobby asked breathlessly.

"Unless it knows how to open doors," he replied – and just at that moment, the door handle turned. "Which it does. Go, go!"

The three of them rushed out of the room, carrying the backboard. Eddie was about to follow them when he heard a dog whimpering and stopped, looking around in confusion. A fluffy white dog peeked out from behind the couch, blood on its face, and Eddie pulled the piece of furniture away from the wall and scooped the injured dog into his arms.

The cat growled from behind the closed door, but Eddie headed out of the room and down the hallway. There was a bang and then the sound of large paws thumping on the floor behind him. "Fuck," he swore, swerving into an open door – it was a library, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and a large bay window.

The cat skittered in after him, snarling.

"Eddie!" Buck's voice came through on the radio. "Where are you?"

He juggled the dog in his arms and called back, "I'm in the library – the cat is loose, and I also found a dog."

"Where's the axe?" Buck asked him.

"It's still in the kitchen." There was a ladder leaning against the wall – obviously to retrieve books from the top shelf, and he quickly ascended it, still clutching the dog. Once at the top, he called through on the radio again. "I'm at the top of a ladder; the cat is in the library and it's pissed off."

The cat stalked back and forth across the bottom of the ladder, glancing up at him suspiciously.

There was a tap at the window. Eddie glanced over to find Buck, Bobby and Cooper standing outside, staring in at him worriedly.

The cat noticed them and flattened itself against the floor, hissing, before charging at the window with a ferocious yowl.

Bobby's voice came over the radio. "We're going to have to put it down, Eddie. Animal Control is half an hour away."

Buck suddenly disappeared from the window, and Eddie leaned against the wall, hugging the shaking dog close to his chest. "Yeah, okay," he said. "You got a humane way to do it?"

"No," Bobby replied ruefully. "I don't have any suggestions. I think Buck is coming to rescue you."

"We should just lock it in the house," Eddie heard Cooper suggest. "Why can't we do that?"

"Because it's a vicious, wild animal, and we can't chance it breaking free," Bobby replied tightly.

Eddie closed his eyes briefly, hitching the dog up, when he suddenly heard footsteps in the hallway. The cat stood to attention as well, turning to look, and Buck appeared in the doorway with another chicken. "Come on, kitty," he said, holding the raw chicken up by the leg. "Come on."

"Buck," Eddie warned, but the cat was already following him. "Buck!"

"I've got a plan!" Buck called back.

As soon as the cat was out of the room, Eddie descended the ladder and went to the window, cracking it open and passing the injured dog through to Bobby. He made sure the window was closed and locked and ran after Buck, and finally found him in the kitchen with the cat – its fur was standing on end as it snarled and hissed at Buck with black eyes.

Buck was standing near the large walk-in pantry cupboard, holding the door open. "Here, kitty," he said, and tossed the entire chicken inside. "Go get it."

The cat skittered into the cupboard after it, and once inside, Buck slammed the door shut and then zip-tied the handles to lock it in.

Eddie let out a trapped breath, leaning against the doorframe. "Holy shit. I'm never complaining about Max _ever again._ "

Buck nodded, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face. "Yeah, I had to talk everyone out of murdering it. It's a wild animal; it doesn't know what it's doing. Are you okay?"

"Yep."

Their radios crackled. "Buck, Eddie? Are you okay?" Bobby asked urgently.

Eddie caught his breath and radioed him back. "Copy that, Cap, the cat is locked in the pantry – with zip ties."

"Good work, guys," Bobby replied. "I'll meet you at the front."

Buck secured another zip tie around the handles, just in case, and they made their way back out through the mansion to the front yard. The ambulance had already departed for the hospital, but Bobby and Cooper were waiting for them near the truck.

"Hey, really smart thinking," Cooper said to Buck, ignoring Eddie. "With the zip ties? Way better than just luring it with food."

"I lured it with food first, Coop," Buck said dryly, yanking off his coat.

"Yeah, but like, actually trapping it in a closet instead of leaving it loose – really smart thinking."

Eddie couldn't help himself. "I didn't leave it loose," he said bitterly. "The thing knew how to turn a doorknob."

Cooper laughed. "Okay. You sure the door was actually closed properly?"

He bristled, about to bark out a response, when Buck said sharply, "The door was closed. The cat was turning the handle. We all saw it, Coop."

Cooper held his hands up. "Right, right," he said awkwardly. "Sorry."

"Cooper! Where are you?" Bobby called from the other side of the truck, and he jogged away.

Eddie shook his head at Buck, gritting his teeth. "That fucking guy."

"Yeah, I know." Buck glanced around to make sure they were alone and kissed his cheek. "I know how heroic you are. Come on, let's go."

* * *

"Buck!" Bobby called, his voice echoing through the station.

Buck awoke with a start, sitting up and looking around. "Yes?"

"My office."

"What'd you do now?" Chimney asked from the armchair beside him, his eyes trained on the TV.

"Nothing," Buck replied, yawning as he rose to his feet. "I'm innocent."

"What's your husband done?"

"He's innocent too. Where is he, anyway?"

"About two minutes after you fell asleep, his phone rang and he's been chatting ever since," Chimney replied, gesturing to the kitchen. Eddie was seated at the table, Airpods on, deep in conversation. "You better go see what Bobby wants."

"Yeah, yeah." Buck blew a kiss at Eddie, who smiled at him and mouthed, _'Adriana'._ Buck nodded, jogging down the stairs, through the station and into Bobby's office. "What's up, Cap? Am I in trouble? Is it about the cat? Did the cat die?"

Bobby shook his head with a grin. "The cat has been transported to a wildlife reserve as far as I know," he replied, gesturing to the seat across from him. "I don't know if they'll put it down. I also found out that the granddaughter survived, by some miracle. They were both incredibly lucky."

"That's good news," Buck replied, taking a seat across from him. "Weird morning."

"One of the stranger ones, for sure," Bobby agreed. "Listen – this is last minute, and I realise this, and you can feel free to say no, but I've been asked to attend the Leadership Conference in Dallas this weekend. I was hoping you might want to come with me."

"Oh," Buck said, surprised. "Yeah! Definitely."

"You and Eddie don't have any big plans?"

"No – Soph is looking to move out, so we'd probably just be house hunting with her."

"Eddie won't be upset if you go without him?" Bobby asked with a grin.

Buck shook his head. "No, he'll be okay. How long is it for?"

"We'll leave Friday night and be back Tuesday afternoon," Bobby replied, checking the schedule, before meeting Buck's eyes again. "I think this could be a really good opportunity for you to make some contacts and meet some new people – plus, I always like talking up your achievements."

Buck grinned, ducking his head. "Okay."

"I was always going to bring you with me, but the Chief also specifically mentioned you by name, so…" Bobby nodded at him. "People notice the good work you do, Buck. You're on the right path now, and we'll keep building at your skills. Okay?"

He nodded eagerly. "Okay. Thanks, Cap."

"Don't mention it. Now, I know you won't be happy about this, but… in a last ditch attempt to try to get through to Cooper, I'm bringing him with us," Bobby said, and when Buck made a face, he sighed. "Yeah, I know, I know. I don't know what else to do to make him understand how serious this job is. Nothing I've tried with him has sunk in, so… I'm trying this. Plus – there are the physical events to think about on Saturday, and after you and Eddie, he's the most physical."

These conferences had all sorts of strength tests – Buck had heard about them before but had never attended. It made sense to bring Cooper for that side of it - the guy had bulked up _a lot_ since he'd started working with them.

"Separate rooms, right?" Buck asked Bobby.

Bobby chuckled at him. "Yes, Buck."

"Okay. As long as I don't have to bunk with him, that's fine. Besides – Eddie would have a fit."

"Yeah, I know, but I know you need to think about Christopher, and I didn't want to ask both of you to come," Bobby admitted. "Obviously, I'd rather have Eddie come along."

"As would I."

Bobby grinned. "Well, he is your husband. Do you think you can put aside your differences with Cooper for one weekend?"

"Yeah, you know I can get along with anyone… what events do you want me to do?"

"Anything strength-related, Buckaroo. I know how much you can lift."

~

After his meeting, Buck found Eddie watching TV with Chimney, and dragged him downstairs and outside so they could talk in private.

"What's going on?" Eddie asked worriedly.

"I've got to go to that Leadership Conference thing with Bobby this weekend," he said ruefully. "The Chief wants our station to go."

"Oh wow, okay," Eddie replied, nodding enthusiastically. "That'll be good for you. How long is it?"

"I leave on Friday and I'll be back Tuesday."

"Four nights," Eddie pouted. "Okay."

"Will you miss me?" Buck whispered, leaning in close, and Eddie nodded vigorously. "Maybe I can call you up from Dallas, and you can tell me all about what you'll do to me when I get home."

Eddie lifted his shoulders, smirking. "Maybe."

"Maybe." Buck leaned in to kiss him. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss _you._ Who else is going?"

Buck paused a moment too long, and Eddie's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Cooper," he finally said.

Eddie went rigidly still, staring at him, one hand locked around Buck's forearm. "Okay."

"We all have separate rooms."

"Yep." Eddie chewed on his lower lip, and then said in a low voice, "Do me a favour, all right? And this is not me being a possessive asshole, it's me… not liking that guy," he practically spat. "Don't go back to his room; don't go out with him; don't get a drink with him – anything like that. I know I'm being unreasonable but… I don't like the way he looks at you sometimes."

Buck frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I think he's got a thing for you," Eddie admitted, unable to meet his eyes. "He's always watching you."

Totally confused, Buck said, "You've never said _anything._ "

"I thought I was… blowing things out of proportion, because… how could he not look at you?" Eddie asked unhappily. "You're _you._ Like, I get it, and I see people looking at you all the time and it doesn't bother me, but this guy bothers me."

"You should've said something."

"You were mentoring him," he said helplessly. "I'm going to make you feel uncomfortable around the guy you're meant to be training? No."

"Is this why you hated him from the start?" Buck asked, the pieces slowly clicking into place.

"No, I thought he was a dick from the start," Eddie replied, "but then I realised that he was kind of… fixated on you, and… that's when I really started to hate him."

"Fixated."

"He's always looking at you," Eddie said quietly. "And I should know, because I'm always looking at you as well."

"Yeah, but you're my husband. You should've told me this," Buck groaned, leaning forward to rest his head on Eddie's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me? You know I haven't been training him lately."

"Because I still feel like a possessive jerk when I see anyone staring at you," Eddie admitted; his hands on Buck's hips. "And I know it's stupid to feel that way when you and I… only have eyes for each other, but still."

"You think it doesn't bother me when I see people staring at _you_?" Buck asked, pulling Eddie in close. "Of course it does – but you should've told me about Cooper."

"I know; I'm sorry." Eddie looked contrite. "I didn't want to be _that guy._ "

"Yeah, but your gut instincts are usually right," Buck pointed out. "And you know I know you're not _that guy._ "

Eddie smiled at him, but there was a twinge of sadness to it. "I just love you so much," he admitted. "I just want to protect you."

"Aw, you're the one who kinda needed protecting with that cat this morning," Buck teased him, and Eddie let out a laugh, nodding. "My love."

"Yeah, it was dumb."

"It was so brave and heroic," Buck whispered, and leaned in to kiss him again.

Eddie hooked his arms around Buck's neck and returned the kiss, letting out a muffled laugh when Buck pushed him up against the wall. "You won't share a room with him," he said when they parted, "or go out drinking or anything like that, okay?"

"You know I’m not interested in any of that shit. I'll come back to the room after dinner and you, me and Christopher can video chat," Buck said, stroking his cheek. "Okay?"

"Okay, but listen – if he does _anything_ , you punch him. Deal?"

"I'm not punching him."

Eddie raised his eyebrows. "It's the only way it'll get through to him."

"I don't punch people." Buck hugged him close, resting his head on his shoulder. "He won't try anything; it'll be okay."

* * *

Eddie wasn't sure that it would be okay, but he figured Bobby would be there to keep an eye on things. Still, he couldn't help but watch Cooper closely – he was clearly thrilled at having been invited along, speaking to anyone who would listen to him about it.

Hen was the one who pulled Eddie aside that afternoon and said, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," he replied, shaking his head good-naturedly. "It's fine."

"First time you and Buck have been apart since the wedding, huh?"

"Yeah, first time we've been apart since… we got together, actually." His heart seized in his chest, and he fought his emotions. It was just a few days. They were already extremely co-dependent, and that wasn't entirely healthy, so he needed to be cool.

Hen gazed at him knowingly. "It's tough," she said, "especially when you haven't been married that long. And I know that you're worried about Cooper."

"Yeah," he murmured. "I don't want him to put Buck in an awkward position."

"Buck will let him down gently – and you know he can handle himself."

"Yeah, yeah, I know – I just don't want him to have to," he said, settling into a seat across from her.

Hen shrugged. "It'll be okay," she said. "I was only trying to think the other day how long it's been since Karen and I spent a night apart. It's genuinely been years – but we don't work together like you two do. You guys are together twenty-four hours a day, practically."

"It's funny how dependent you become," Eddie agreed. "Like… Buck and I just kind of settled into roles – and even him not being around this weekend is weird to me? I keep thinking, we'll do this or we'll go there… and then I think that being worried about spending four days apart is kinda dumb."

"Yeah, it is, but I get it. You're two idiots in love and you want to be together; it's okay." Hen rested her head on her hand and smiled at him. "I know what it's like when you're totally wrapped up in someone. What I don't know is how you and Buck live together and work together without murdering each other."

He laughed. "Somehow I never seem to get sick of him. He gets sick of Sophia and I arguing all the time."

"That's just how brothers and sisters communicate."

"Yeah, but he said that he and Maddie don't argue, so he thinks it's weird," Eddie replied with a grin. "But there's more of an age difference between them. There are less than two years between me and Sophia."

"Poor Buck, being stuck with the whole Diaz clan," she teased.

"Not for much longer; she's moving out," he said, as Buck, Chimney and Bobby joined them on the balcony. "She's looking for somewhere to live."

"Oh yeah, Maddie told me," Chimney said, taking the seat beside Hen. "I guess I'll have to hook up _another_ security system."

"So far, all your security system has done is notified us that there was a dog in the yard, an Amazon delivery driver and a raccoon," Buck teased, settling in beside Eddie, leaning against him comfortably.

Chimney shrugged. "It's doing its job."

"Does she know where she wants to live?" Bobby asked from the kitchen.

"Somewhere close to us. I think she and Maddie have already been trying to find something decent," Eddie said, taking Buck's hand under the table. "We're going house-hunting on the weekend. Buck's going to miss out."

"Where are you going?" Chimney asked, confused.

Buck tilted his head towards Bobby. "To the Leadership Conference thing in Dallas."

"Hey, can I come?" Chimney called, much to their surprise. "I told you I wanted to come!"

"I figured you wouldn't be interested in leaving Maddie and Charlotte," Bobby replied. "But you come if you want. I can take up to three firefighters."

"Who's the other one? Eddie? Hen?"

"No," Buck replied, raising his eyebrows. "It's Cooper."

Chimney screwed his face up, seemingly reconsidering, and then sighed. "Yeah, okay. As long as I don't have to share a room with him."

"No one is sharing a room with anyone; we all have separate rooms. You may have an adjoining door but you can keep it locked," Bobby said patiently.

"Why do you want to come?" Buck asked curiously.

Chimney shrugged. "I always wanted to, and I always got overlooked. Plus – I'll get to hang out with my future brother-in-law."

"Lucky me," Buck said dryly, and laughed when Chimney swatted at him.

"Well, we all have to be on our best behaviour," Bobby said, joining them at the table with a cup of tea. "The Chief has specifically requested that our station represent the LAFD, so you two – press those uniforms, shine everything up and Chim, get a haircut. We've got to look good."

Chimney touched his hair. "I'll have you know that Maddie cut my hair last week."

"She just didn't do a very good job," Hen finished for him, grinning when Chimney bumped his shoulder against hers pointedly.

* * *

Sophia was busily cooking dinner when they arrived home, and Eddie immediately made a beeline for her, inspecting the pot on the stove with interest. Buck greeted Sophia's kids in the backyard before wandering in search of Christopher – he was in his room, on the bed, patting Max quietly.

"Hey kiddo," Buck said, dropping to his knees beside the bed. "You okay?"

"The test is tomorrow."

"It's not a test."

Christopher gave him a worried look. "It feels like it is."

"There's no pressure on you. This is not a pass or fail," Buck reassured him, as Eddie entered the room. "Whatever happens, you're going to be fine."

"You're worried about tomorrow," Eddie guessed, taking a seat on the bed beside Christopher.

He nodded, shifting so that Eddie could lie down beside him and give him a hug. "Yeah."

"It's just like what Buck said," Eddie murmured. "This is just to rule something out, so we can understand why your stubborn little brain hates math."

At that Christopher let out a giggle, nodding.

"Yeah, what a stubborn, grumpy little brain," Buck teased, reaching out to tickle him. " _I don't like math; I don't want to do math."_

"Stop," Christopher giggled, tossing his head from side to side. "Math is hard!"

"Yeah, it's really hard," Eddie agreed, his eyes following the cat suspiciously as he wandered down the end of the bed. "Hey kiddo… Max hasn't ever scratched you, has he?"

As if realising he was the topic of conversation, Max looked over at Eddie with narrowed amber eyes.

"No, he's a good boy," Christopher said, holding his hand out. The cat instantly walked back over to him and bumped his head against his hand, purring loudly.

"I think Max has a lot less African wildcat in him than the cat we saw this morning," Buck said with a grin.

"You saw a wildcat?" Christopher asked curiously.

"Yeah, a big one," Eddie replied. "Mean, too."

"Your dad chased it off with a broom," Buck said, resting his chin on the edge of the bed, "and I locked it in a cupboard."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"Can I come to work with you one day?"

Eddie chuckled, running his fingers through Christopher's hair. "I mean, we probably do need to have our sirens checked again."

"Definitely," Buck agreed. "And someone needs to keep us all in line."

"I could do that."

"Yeah, you could." Eddie smiled down at him. "Hey kiddo, it's just you and me this weekend. Buck's going away for a few days."

Christopher furrowed his brow, turning to Buck. "Where? Why?"

"A work trip," Buck said ruefully. "To Dallas, with Bobby and Chimney."

"We could come," Christopher said to Eddie, who shook his head.

"No, this is something Buck has to do on his own," he said. "And we have to help Aunt Sophia find somewhere new to live – plus I think you and I might be able to do some fun stuff together."

Christopher gazed at Buck with sad eyes. "But I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you both so much," he said, taking Christopher's hand in his. "But it's only a few days; time will fly and then I'll be back. With a medal, hopefully."

"They don't give you a medal for being the strongest – and you know you're not gonna win that," Eddie said pointedly.

"We'll see."

~

Buck entered the bedroom after his shower to find Eddie already in bed, sitting up and waiting for him. "Hey," Buck said, arching an eyebrow at him. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk," Eddie said, visibly nervous. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Cooper. I thought I was… imagining it, or blowing it out of proportion. People look at you all the time and it never really bothers me, but when it's him… it does."

"But you know I'd never—"

"No, this isn't about you – I know we're rock solid," Eddie reassured him. "This is about _him._ He creeps me out – and you know I usually get along with people. I'm a friendly guy."

Buck nodded, taking a seat on the end of the bed. "Yeah, which is why I've been so worried about you. It's not like you to openly hate someone so much."

"He just rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning, and the thing with you on the ropes… and he's always been kind of a dick. I know you were meant to be training him, and I didn't want to say, hey, babe, this guy you're training has a pretty big crush on you… I thought it would make you uncomfortable." Eddie shrugged at him. "I want you to succeed."

Buck smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you too. Do I feel a bit sick about you going away with this guy for four days? Yes."

"You know nothing's going to happen."

"Not from you," Eddie pointed out, "but I don't trust him not to try."

"Well, he can try all he wants; my heart belongs to you," Buck said, and Eddie crawled across the bed to kiss him sweetly.

When they parted, he said, "You remember when we first got together?"

"Yes…"

"And that night Maddie made you go out on a date with that girl, and you came home and pretty much… had your way with me?" Eddie raised his eyebrows at him suggestively.

"Oh yeah, I think about that sometimes."

Eddie leaned in again, brushing their lips together lightly, and whispered, "You could have me now."

"Oh, really…" Buck murmured, as Eddie straddled his lap, leaning in to kiss him again. "You're just turned on by my ingenuity with the cat today."

"Is that what it is?" Eddie's lips trailed along his jaw and down to his neck, before he lifted his head. "Did you know cats could open doors?"

"Not until today."

They shared a look, and then glanced over at their closed bedroom door suspiciously. "No," Eddie finally said, relaxing, kissing him again. "Max is too dumb."

"And too short," Buck agreed, flopping onto his back on the bed with Eddie on top of him. "Now, what were you saying about me having you?"

~


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie left work early to attend the meeting at the school – Buck, Bobby, Chimney and Cooper were deep in preparations for their trip away, so Eddie promised to keep him updated over text once he knew what was going on.

Carla met him at the school gates, and they walked inside together. "Whatever the outcome is, it's going to be okay," she reassured him. "If he doesn't have dyscalculia, then we can find him a math tutor."

"If he doesn't have it, maybe he just doesn't like math. I don't like math," Eddie pointed out. "Buck doesn't like math."

"And neither do I, but unfortunately, he still needs to learn it." Carla patted his back. "Don't worry, Eddie. It'll be okay."

They were taken into the Principal's office – Christopher was hanging out in the playground with a chaperone, waiting for them. Eddie was relieved that Mr Stewart wasn't present for the meeting, and Principal Summers sat across from them and opened a folder.

"Well, depending on how you look at it, it's either good news or bad news. The test shows he has dyscalculia," she said, and Eddie let out a trapped breath. "From my point of view – this is good news. We know what's going on; we know why he's struggling so much and we can take positive steps towards helping him."

"Agreed," Carla said, glancing at Eddie. "I feel somewhat relieved about it."

"Yeah, me too," he said. "So where do we go from here?"

"One of our other math teachers is very familiar with dyscalculia," she replied. "I've spoken to Mrs Henderson about Christopher, and Mr Stewart was present for that meeting as well. Both teachers are going to work together on a lesson plan for Christopher, and my other suggestion is that we arrange a dedicated math tutor to help him once or twice a week during his free periods."

"And Mr Stewart is okay with this?" Carla asked.

"Yes, Glen is on board, and he's recommended a couple of math tutors," she replied. "He really does care about Christopher – we all do. He's a great kid."

Eddie was always encouraged whenever anybody spoke about what a great kid Christopher was, and nodded. "Okay, I think that sounds like a good idea."

"I'm also going to email you through some resources that will help him – and you and your husband – at home," she added. "And I would recommend keeping up his sessions with his psychologist. Anxiety seems to be a recurring theme."

Eddie nodded again. "We've got him booked in for regular sessions every two weeks."

"And I think we should have another meeting again in a month to see how he's adjusting, and how things are progressing," Principal Summers said, "but I'm relieved to have an answer for you."

~

They decided to speak to Christopher about it at home, but when they arrived, they found absolute chaos. An unfamiliar car was parked across the driveway; the front door was wide open and shouting was coming from inside.

"You wait here," Eddie said to Carla, parking on the street. "Call Buck for me; he should be on the way home."

"It's Sophia's ex, isn't it?" Carla asked worriedly.

"I think so. If I don't get him to leave in five minutes, call the police." Eddie climbed out of the driver's seat, pre-dialled 911 on his phone, and jogged up to the house.

"I'm asking you to leave!" Sophia was shrieking.

"I'm not leaving without you! You're my wife, and these are our children! I've given you a few months to come to your senses but I've had enough! You're coming back to El Paso with me!"

"We're not leaving!" Sophia screamed at him.

Their voices were coming from the back of the house, so Eddie opened the broom closet beneath the stairs and retrieved a wooden baseball bat.

"Do you have any idea how much this has cost me in lawyers? How embarrassing it is for me that my wife has run off to California with our children?"

"You've got a new girlfriend; you can't be too broken up about it!"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Sophia – she's just an easy lay! I'm only human!"

Eddie found them in the back room, overlooking the backyard – Sophia spotted him first. She was standing in front of her children protectively, her arms out, a dark red splotch across her face.

"Martin," Eddie snapped, holding the bat up.

Martin whirled around to face him – for a split, horrifying second Eddie thought he was holding a gun, but realised it was just his silver iPhone. "What the fuck are you gonna do?" he snarled.

"This is my house – you're on private property, and I'm asking you to leave before I call the cops," Eddie warned. "Come on, man – you guys are sorting through all your legal stuff. This isn't going to look good for you."

"What am I supposed to do? She can't just leave me!"

"She _has_ , and you need to accept it."

Martin took a step towards Eddie, but he held his ground, ready to swing the bat if necessary.

"Don't make me put you down in front of your kids," Eddie said to him quietly. "Do not make me do it. You've traumatised them enough."

Martin seemed to hesitate, glancing over at Sophia. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Move on with your life, dude. I thought you had a new girlfriend."

He let out an agitated sigh. "She dumped me."

 _Maybe that's because you're an asshole_ , Eddie thought, but gestured to the front door with the bat. "Come on, man. You need to get out."

"We have a custody agreement in place," Sophia said tearfully, "that says I can live in Los Angeles with the kids. You said you weren't going to put up a fight."

Martin gave her a cold look. "I just don't like being made a fool of."

"You're making a fool of yourself, right now," Eddie snapped. "Come on, man. You gotta get out right now."

Martin turned to Sophia again, who tilted her chin up defiantly, her children still protected behind her. "I hope you're happy," he spat at her.

"I am," she said, in a voice strong and clear. "You need to accept this. The divorce is going through. The children are in school out here. I am their sole guardian, Martin."

Martin swore, and then stalked past Eddie and to the front of the house. Eddie trailed after him with the bat, just as Buck pulled up, leaping out of his car.

"Stay out of it, Buck," Martin snapped at him, striding across the front lawn.

"Is Soph okay?" Buck asked Eddie, who tilted his head towards the house. Buck left them and charged inside to check on her.

Martin fumbled with his keys, dropping them onto the concrete driveway. Eddie waited, holding the bat behind himself so as not to spook Christopher, and said, "We're gonna get a restraining order. You come around here again, I'll have you arrested."

"I'm done, you don't have to worry about me," Martin spat at him. "The bitch can just get away with whatever she wants, and I'm left with fucking _nothing._ "

"Nothing – you got the better deal in the split and you know it," Eddie retorted. "She's starting from scratch out here. You got to keep everything."

"Yeah, whatever. Figures she'd come running out to LA to be with her homo brother," Martin muttered.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Again with the homophobia? Is that the best you can come up with? You never liked me before you knew I was gay."

"I could always tell."

"Oh yeah, sure."

Martin unlocked the car, and then turned to face Eddie again. "And you know what really pisses me off? You can run off on your pregnant wife for five years and it's fine, because you're in the army, you're going to war. You're the family's hero – and you can come back and take up with a guy and it's fine, they just accept it. They never accepted me."

"Because you're a wife-beating piece of shit," Eddie said bluntly, "and if you come near my sister again, I'll take care of you myself."

"Whatever. You're such an asshole," Martin spat at him. "You and Buck deserve each other."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Good retort. Why don't you just get the fuck out of here?"

Martin gave him the finger, and slid into the front seat. "With fucking pleasure."

Eddie took a step back, watching as he reversed out of the driveway and took off down the street. He heard footsteps behind him and found Buck approaching, his phone to his ear.

"Yeah, Athena, he's gone," he said breathlessly, resting his hand on Eddie's shoulder. "How do we get a restraining order?"

Eddie passed him the baseball bat and then jogged down to his car, where Carla was waiting for him worriedly. "Is Sophia okay?" she asked as he climbed into the front seat.

"Yeah, she's okay," he replied as he started the ignition. "Buck's on the phone with Athena now."

"Oh, good. She'll sort everything out in no time."

Eddie pulled his car into the driveway and slid out of the driver's seat, helping Christopher out. They trooped inside and found Buck with his arms wrapped around Sophia in a bear hug, though when Eddie stepped through the door, he released her and she threw herself at him.

"It's okay," Eddie said in her ear. "It's going to be okay."

"I can't believe he did this, Eddie," she wept.

"I know, but you're safe now. We'll figure it out. Are you okay?" he asked, pulling out of her hug, examining her face. "Did he hit you?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes. "He slapped me."

"Here, Sophia," Carla said to her, holding out a bag of frozen peas. "Come sit down with me, okay, sweetheart? Let Buck and Eddie take care of the kids; you just come with me." Carla led her over to the dining table and fussed over her while Sophia tried to pull herself together.

Buck was on the phone to Maddie, but he ended the call quickly and gave Eddie a kiss before kneeling down to haul Christopher up into his arms. "Come on, kiddo, let's watch some TV."

* * *

Sophia was fine – more annoyed than anything else, though Buck guessed shock had a lot to do with her initial reaction. Carla took care of her while Eddie checked to make sure Christopher was okay and helped Buck settle all the kids in the lounge room with a movie. Sophia then called Adriana, who freaked out and threatened to fly to Los Angeles to chase him down herself.

Maddie arrived first, and two minutes after her, Athena's squad car pulled up on the street. Suddenly they had a full house, and Buck kept the kids entertained while Eddie gave his statement and pulled up the security footage to show Athena what had happened.

Buck had Christopher on his lap and the other three curled up around him – Lila, the baby of the family; Julia, the middle child and most introverted of the bunch; and Alex, the baseball-obsessed older brother.

All of the kids were quiet; with _Toy Story 3_ playing on the TV. Eddie popped in to check on them before returning to the huddle in the other room, and Buck was zoned out, rubbing Christopher's back, when he heard a sniffle, and glanced down to find Lila wiping tears from her eyes.

"You okay?" he whispered to her, and she looked up at him with tearful brown eyes and shook her head. "I know you were scared, but it's going to be okay. You're safe here."

"Why was Daddy so mad?" Julia asked quietly. Buck had an arm around her shoulders, and she was playing with his wedding ring, sliding it up and down his finger.

Buck really had no idea how to respond, and finally said, "He's not in a good place right now."

"Mom says we're not allowed to see him anymore," Alex said from the couch. "Good, because I hate him."

"Don't say that," Buck said to him. "He just needs to get some help."

Alex shook his head bitterly. "I wish he wasn't our dad. I wish you and Uncle Eddie were our dads."

"We're your uncles, and we'll always be here for you," Buck replied, reaching out to pat his knee. "It'll be okay, guys."

"But Mommy is talking about us moving out which means that he could come and hurt her," Julia said fearfully.

Christopher looked up at Buck with alarm, but relaxed when Buck shook his head quickly.

"You guys aren't going anywhere in a hurry," he promised them. "Remember when Uncle Chimney came over and installed the security system? This place is safe; I promise you."

"But he still got in," Julia mumbled.

"Because Mommy had the door open while she brought in the groceries," Alex argued.

Buck decided to shut down the discussion, and sat up, Christopher still firmly on his lap, refusing to move. "Guys, your mom is talking to Athena who is going to make sure that he doesn't come back, okay?" he reassured them. "And your Uncle Eddie and I will be here – well, I won't be here this weekend, but Uncle Eddie will be. And Uncle Chimney and Aunt Maddie live just around the corner, so you guys will be okay. I promise."

They all murmured in acknowledgment, and returned to the movie, just as Eddie stepped into the room. "We need to talk before Carla goes home," he said, a look of exhaustion crossing his face. "Come on, Chris."

"I'm in trouble," Christopher whispered to Buck, who shook his head.

"Absolutely not. All right you three, just watch the movie and think about what pizza you want for dinner," Buck ordered the kids, rising to his feet and helping Christopher up as well. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Down to your room, kiddo," Eddie said to Christopher, stepping to the side so he could go first, and then pulling Buck in for a hug.

"You okay?" Buck murmured in his hear, and Eddie nodded, kissing his cheek. "He doesn't know?"

"No, not yet." Eddie released him, waving to Carla, and the three of them followed Christopher into his room.

"Where's our beautiful boy, Christopher?" Carla asked, perching on the edge of his bed.

Christopher looked around, and then called, "Max? Max!"

There was a chirp from below the bed and then Max appeared, meowing, leaping up onto the bed to bump against Christopher's hands and rub up against him. Carla reached out to pat his fluffy head, and Max flopped down onto his back, letting out a long, happy purr.

Buck glanced at Eddie, who said, "Okay, kiddo, we—"

"I have it, don't I?" Christopher interrupted, looking up at him unhappily.

Eddie hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah, you do – but it's okay. At least we know."

"And we have a bunch of ways to help you with math," Carla reassured him, "so you don't have to feel overwhelmed or anxious about it anymore."

Christopher bobbed his head, patting Max. "I just want to be normal," he whispered, in a voice that was almost inaudible.

"There's no such thing as normal," Buck said, rounding the bed and kneeling in front of him. "You're _you._ We just want you to be happy."

"But you and Dad are normal—"

"No, we're not, and neither is Carla. Everyone has something that makes them different." Buck gazed at him imploringly. "This is just one piece of the Christopher puzzle, kiddo. And it's frustrating for you, we know, but this isn't going to stop you. Nothing stops you, Chris."

Christopher glanced at him shyly, and then looked up at Eddie. "Really?"

Eddie nodded emphatically, dropping to his knees beside Buck. "When you broke your arm last year, you never let it worry you," he said reassuringly. "Yeah, it was a pain – but you got through it. Sometimes there are hurdles but we get through them. We know how strong you are."

"Yeah, kiddo," Buck said, reaching out to brush his hand. "You survived a tsunami. You got this."

"Maybe we try to avoid going through anymore tsunamis," Carla spoke up. "We don't want to make a habit of that."

"Agreed," Eddie said emphatically. "No more natural disasters for the Diaz family."

Christopher nodded, as Max began to wind loops around him, walking across his lap and around his back, his tail standing tall, brushing against Christopher's face with each pass. "Okay," he said, and finally smiled at them. "What do I have to do?"

"You'll be staying in the same math class, but you're going to have extra help. Mr Stewart is going to work with a teacher named Mrs Henderson, and we're also going to get you a special tutor. You're going to have so much support," Carla said reassuringly.

"Okay."

"Your Dad and I are going to learn some new skills as well so we can help," Buck said. "That way, if you ask us a question, we can actually have a decent shot of helping you with the answer."

"But you can't do math," Christopher said to Buck, who made a face at him.

"Neither can you, kiddo," he retorted, and Christopher let out a peal of laughter. "God, you and your father can't help yourselves, can you?"

"No, we love making fun of you," Eddie said affectionately. "Especially your math skills."

~

Athena wrapped up with Sophia, and she, Maddie and Carla all left at the same time. Buck ordered pizza for everyone and then went upstairs to start packing, which was where Eddie found him, carefully folding his formal uniform.

"Everyone's okay?" Buck asked him, as Eddie sat on the end of the bed with his leg tucked underneath him.

"Yeah, I think so. Soph is watching movies with the kids, but she told me she's too freaked out to think about moving now," he replied. "I get it."

Buck nodded, and because Eddie had an unhappy look on his face, he leaned in to kiss him sweetly, trying to chase it away. "So they stay longer; it'll be okay."

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about him coming back." Eddie chewed on his lower lip.

"We'll be more conscious; we'll make sure the security system is on during the day as well," Buck replied. "Athena will get the restraining order."

"Restraining orders are just pieces of paper; they're meaningless. He can do whatever he wants."

"It means he can get arrested."

"Maddie never got one for Doug—"

"Yeah, and we're trying to prevent that from happening again." Buck sat down on Eddie's lap purposefully, and Eddie let out a chuckle, leaning his head against his shoulder. "You're going to miss me."

"Of course I am. Adriana's flying out this weekend now, and I'm not going to have you here to protect me from my sisters. And they're talking about having Maddie and Charlotte over on Saturday night while Chim is away. I'm going to be surrounded by girls."

"Oh no," Buck teased, as Eddie pouted at him. "Oh, my poor baby. You'll just have to lock yourself up here and call me for some phone sex."

"I'm going to." Eddie hugged him from behind, kissing his shoulder. "Did Cooper say anything today?"

"No, he's pretty pumped about showing off how strong he is in front of all the other firefighters," Buck replied, rolling his eyes.

"He's so cool," Eddie said sarcastically.

"Yeah, the coolest. I bet he's all over Insta, flexing his muscles." Buck stood, but laughed when Eddie immediately tugged him down again. "I have to pack."

"Packing can wait," Eddie murmured, kissing a line along his shoulder blade.

Buck leaned against him, closing his eyes. "God, I'm going to miss you. I know it's only a few days but fuck, I hate sleeping alone."

"Me too." Eddie pulled down the collar of Buck's t-shirt and kissed the back of his neck, before sucking a love bite onto the curve of his shoulder. "Remember when I used to give you hickeys all the time?"

"Oh yeah, I loved it."

"Kinda feeling like maybe I should leave a really obvious one."

"Babe, I think the wedding ring makes it pretty clear that I'm taken."

"Still." Eddie's hand slid under the waistband of his pants, and Buck ground down against him purposefully. "Fuck, I shouldn't have come up here."

"Why not?" Buck asked innocently, grinding his hips back and forth. "What's wrong?"

Eddie gasped, thrusting once in response. "You're killing me."

Buck gave him a wicked grin, checking to make sure the door was closed, before pulling off Eddie and dropping to his knees, undoing the fly on his jeans. "Let me see if I can help you with your problem."

"I didn't lock the door – I haven't locked the door," Eddie whispered urgently, and Buck groaned, stepping away from him long enough to ensure they were locked in. He knelt between his splayed legs and tugged Eddie's open jeans down his legs, revealing the erection straining against his underwear. Eddie was breathing heavily, and when Buck freed his cock, he dropped his head back.

"Oh, you're gonna miss me," Buck said throatily, pressing an open kiss to the head of his cock, pre-cum smearing across his lips. "You're going to be dying for me when I get back."

"God, you know it," Eddie said breathlessly.

Buck stroked him a few times, and then licked a stripe from the base of his cock all the way to the head, before wrapping his lips around the length and sucking with practiced ease, chuckling deep in his throat when Eddie's hand twisted in his hair.

He gave him a wet and enthusiastic blow job, drawing it out long enough that Eddie was panting and trying to hold on; trying not to thrust into his mouth. He was lying on the bed with his legs dangling over the edge, and Buck reached out a hand and pulled him up into a sitting position, looking up at him with hooded eyes.

"Baby," Eddie said in a strangled voice, and Buck pulled away from his cock long enough to lean in and give him a messy kiss. He dropped to his knees again, wrapped his hand around the base of his cock and stroked him hard, sucking the head of his cock until Eddie was coming, holding an arm over his mouth to keep quiet, before flopping onto his back on the bed again with a long sigh.

"Yum," Buck said with satisfaction, pressing a final kiss to his cock. "You good?"

"No."

Buck laughed, crawling over him, and pressing a kiss to his lips. "Time will fly, and when I get back, you can do whatever you want to me."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

~

By Friday afternoon, Buck was in Dallas with Bobby, Chimney and Cooper, who'd spent the entire plane trip annoying Bobby and Chimney with inane conversation while Buck jammed his headphones in and listened to music to tune him out.

It was Buck's first time in Dallas, and he peered out of the window of the minivan as they drove through the city streets. It was a nice city, with plenty of rainbow flags around, and he wondered if he should talk Eddie into coming for a visit next time they were in Texas.

Their hotel was about ten storeys, with a large lobby, plenty of seating and an indoor water feature. There were a bunch of other stations staying in the same hotel, and Bobby spotted a few people he recognised, waving to them as they lined up to check in.

Once he had their keys in hand, he passed them out and said, "Okay, we'll take our bags up to our rooms and then head down to the restaurant for dinner in ten minutes, okay? I'll come knocking on doors."

"Yes Cap," Chimney said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Looking forward to some good old fashioned Texan barbeque."

"We could always go to the place across the street," Buck suggested as they headed across the lobby to the elevators. "With the fiery pig on the roof."

"I'm pretty sure that place is called the Flaming Hog," Chimney said with a chuckle. "I'll check out the reviews on Yelp."

"I don't mind where we go, but if I don't get some pork spare ribs while I'm here, there's going to be trouble," Bobby warned, as they entered the elevator. "Pick a place, and we'll go."

~

Buck's room was on the end, with Cooper on one side, then Chimney and then Bobby. Thankfully, he wasn't in an adjoining room, so he didn't have to worry about _that_ , but still. He would've preferred being further away from Cooper.

Eddie wouldn't have liked the hotel – the mini-bar was sparse, and the room service menu was pitiful. Buck took a photo of it to send to him, and received disapproving emojis in response.

He was the first to wait in the hall for the others, but Cooper joined him a minute later, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a red and blue plaid shirt – his best approximation of cowboy attire, Buck guessed. Buck eyed him, trying not to laugh, and when Cooper had his back turned, examining a picture on the wall, he took a sneaky photo to send to Eddie on Snapchat.

Bobby and Chimney exited their rooms at almost the same time, and the four went down to the lobby again, and out onto the bustling street. Dallas was hopping on a Friday night, and Chimney had decided the barbeque place across the street was good enough for them, so they cut across and lined up for a table.

The place was packed with firefighters, but the waitress led them to a table in the back, and passed around menus. Buck caught a glimpse of a half rack of ribs placed atop a mountain of fries on the table next to him and made an instant decision. "Yep, ribs for me."

"Me too," Bobby agreed, thought he was perusing the menu. "And some macaroni and cheese. Chim?"

"You guys can keep your ribs, I'm having the southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes," he declared, grinning at them. "My favourite."

"Coop?" Bobby asked, but Cooper's eyes were trained on a wall of awards near the bar. "Cooper?"

"What's that?" he asked, straining to see. "Is there an eating competition?"

They all turned to look. "Yeah, you have to eat a full rack of beef ribs and a 48 ounce steak in under an hour," Chimney replied. "And they comp your meal, take your photo and put it on the wall."

"No," Bobby warned Cooper, but he was grinning, and nodding eagerly. "Cooper, no. You and Buck have a physical day tomorrow—"

"I can do it," Cooper said firmly. "I can definitely do it."

"You almost definitely can't," Chimney said, shaking his head at him. "Are you kidding? If you don't do it, you have to pay like… nearly sixty bucks for the meal. There's no way you can do it."

"I've done competitive eating before, I can totally handle this," Cooper said confidently. "I've got this."

"Cooper, the LAFD isn't picking up the tab for this," Bobby warned him. "If you're doing it, you're paying for it yourself."

"I won't be paying for anything," Cooper replied. "I can definitely do this. Buck, you just wait – this will be great."

Confused, Buck flicked a glance at Chimney, who was trying not to laugh. "Okay, man. Sure," he replied, and sent Eddie a text.

_He wants to do the eating challenge. A full rack of beef ribs and a 48oz steak in under an hour_

Eddie sent back laughing emojis, and then added, _You should pre-dial 911, he's going to die_

Bobby regarded Cooper seriously. "We're just having dinner," he said. "Just pick something you want to eat and enjoy it, Coop. You don't need to prove anything to us, if that's what this is about."

"I want to do the challenge," Cooper said stubbornly. "Buck and I could both do it—"

"Oh god no," Buck said instantly. "My husband would kill me."

"If your arteries didn't clog and kill you first," Chimney said dryly. "Cooper, just order some ribs and eat that."

"No, I'm doing it," he replied, gesturing for the waitress. "It'll be good."

Looking pained, Bobby shook his head, slumping in his seat. "Well, at least Chimney is a trained paramedic."

~

Cooper's meal arrived on a tray, and when it was placed in front of him, it took up half the table. What the menu had failed to mention was that the ribs were coated in a barbeque chilli sauce – so in addition to being enormous, they were also super spicy. The meat was placed atop a stack of French fries, and once the tray was in front of him, Cooper actually began to look a little nervous.

Buck snapped a photo of it and sent it to the group chat with Eddie, Hen, Chimney, Bobby and Athena.

Hen's response was instant. _Someone stop him before he kills himself!_

Athena's reply was blunt. _That boy is an idiot._

Eddie merely replied with, _Let him do it. Buck, try to video it for us_

Chimney read the messages on his phone and met Buck's eyes, trying not to grin.

"Okay," the waitress said to Cooper, holding a gong over his head. "You've got one hour, hot stuff. Let's see how you do." She rang the bell, and Cooper dug into the ribs first, the tender meat practically sliding off the bone.

"I've already lost my appetite," Bobby remarked, turning away from him, and trying to focus on his meal. "Please don't choke, Cooper."

Buck dug into his own meal, trying to ignore the chewing and slurping that was coming from the seat beside him. He'd angled his phone on the table slightly, Cooper in frame, videoing the whole thing surreptitiously.

Chimney cut into his fried chicken and said in a low voice, "I've never been so glad to be eating chicken in my life."

"Hey, is he really doing this?" a jovial Texan voice asked from above them. A tall guy in a cowboy hat leaned over their table. "Judd Ryder with the Austin 126 – is he for real?"

Something sparked in Buck's brain, and he wondered why the station sounded so familiar.

"He's for real," Chimney confirmed, rolling his eyes. "You want to pull up a seat and watch?"

"No, but I'm going to come back in an hour to see how much is left over," Judd replied with a grin. "Where are you guys from?"

"Los Angeles, Station 118," Bobby replied, holding his hand out so Judd could shake it. "You're here with your captain?"

"Yeah, he's having dinner in the restaurant – this place was too unhealthy for him, so it's just Marjan, Paul and me," Judd replied, gesturing to the rest of his team, at a booth near the back of the restaurant. "Hey listen, man," he said to Cooper, who looked up at him with a mouthful of food. "If you start having chest pains, it's just your arteries clogging up – nothing to worry about, happens with Texan barbeque all the time."

Buck grinned. "Where'd you say you were from again?"

"Austin. You entering into the strength challenges tomorrow?" Judd asked him.

"Yeah, me and this idiot," Buck said, gesturing with his thumb to Cooper, who was shovelling French fries into his mouth. "So you're probably gonna win."

"Hey, I'll put some money on us," Judd said jovially. "Take it easy, Hollywood."

"See you around," Buck replied, making the mistake of glancing at Cooper, whose face was red, sauce smeared all around his mouth. "Jesus, dude. You're going to be sick."

Cooper chugged some water. "Nah I'm good."

Buck met Bobby's eyes across the table and thought, _I might have been kind of a handful when I started, but I was nowhere near as bad as this guy._

From the look on Bobby's face, Buck guessed he agreed.

~

Cooper didn't complete the challenge. At about fifty minutes, he still had half a piece of steak, a stack of fries, and two ribs left. Barbeque sauce was all over his face, shirt and hands, and he was holding his stomach, burping every so often.

"I think we're going to need a bucket," Bobby said to the waitress, who laughed and hurried out to the kitchen.

"I've got this," Cooper said blearily, but burped again. "I've got it."

"Maybe you don't got it," Chimney suggested, "and you should stop now before you throw up everywhere and ruin everyone's night."

"No, I got it." Cooper pressed a hand to his lips, his eyes glassy. "I've got this."

"If you have to keep saying that you've got it, you probably don't have it," Bobby said. "Stop eating."

"No, I can do it." A look of determination crossed Cooper's face. "I can do it." He picked up the steak with both hands and ripped off a piece, and that was enough for Buck – his stomach flipped, and he pushed his chair out, grabbing his phone.

"I'll be outside," he said, handing Bobby a fifty dollar bill. "Let me know if you need me to help you carry him across the street."

Bobby nodded at him wearily, and Buck called Eddie as he headed out through the restaurant and onto the warm and windy street. He breathed in the fresh night air, turning his head to the sky, as Eddie's voice came over the line.

"Hey," he said warmly. "Has he had a heart attack yet?"

"Not yet, but pretty soon. I didn't hang around to watch him yack it all up." Buck took a seat on a planter. "How are things?"

"Good, everyone's in bed, and I'm just watching TV all on my own."

"You better not be watching anything I want to watch without me."

"Nah, I'm watching the original _Friday the 13 th_, it was on Netflix. Haven't seen it since I was a teenager; didn't think it'd be your thing."

"No. Lots of boobs in it?"

Eddie laughed. "Yeah, there are some boobs. I used to think it was pretty scandalous when I was young."

"I bet you did."

"What movie did you like to watch, huh?"

Buck grinned. "I don't know… oh wait, yeah. _American Pie_."

"Oh, _right_ ," Eddie murmured. "Yeah, that hasn't aged well."

"No, but pre-teen me thought it was amazing. You know the other one, though?"

"What?"

He paused, and then said, _"Point Break_. With Swayze and Keanu? Shirtless for most of the movie? Yeah."

Eddie laughed. "A true bisexual."

"I was very confused, what can I say."

"Good taste, though." Eddie paused, and then said, "I miss you already."

"I miss you too. I wish you were here with us. It's a nice city; have you been before? I like it."

"You like everywhere you go."

"Most places are pretty cool," Buck said impishly, as Eddie laughed in his ear.

"Hey, Hollywood!" a familiar Texan voice called, and he glanced over as Judd and his friends exited the bar. "Your friend just barfed all over the table!"

"Why do you think I'm sitting out here?" Buck called back, tapping the side of his head.

"Smart! I'll see you tomorrow; better get some rest or I'm gonna whoop your ass," Judd called, holding a hand over his head in a wave as they crossed the street.

Buck waved back, letting out a laugh. "Somehow we've made friends and rivals in an Austin crew already."

"You watch out for those Texans, baby."

"Trust me, I know. I'm married to one," he replied, as Bobby exited the restaurant. "Oh, we're going. I'll call you when I'm in my room, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be waiting. Love you."

"Love you too." Buck ended the call and strode over to join Bobby. "He okay?"

Bobby sighed. "No, he's still vomiting in the toilets. Chimney volunteered, as a paramedic, to keep an eye on him, but I have to buy him and Maddie a really good present off their registry list when we get back."

"Hey, that's a small price to pay," Buck said. "I wouldn't want to be in there."

"No. Honestly, Buck… I thought by bringing Cooper along, he might realise how serious this is – that we're investing time and money in him, but… I just don't think he gets it."

"Well, you know how I feel," Buck replied. "How Eddie and I both feel."

"I know, and I'm conscious of that. I would've fired him after the incident at the pier, you know, if I hadn't been overruled." Bobby gave him a long look. "This is the thing that you're going to need to understand – balancing personal feelings and also being the boss. It's not easy. I know he's a decent guy, and he's young, but… I never thought I'd have this much trouble with him. _You_ were easier."

"Yeah, but… it's different for him," Buck pointed out. "I was lost, searching for something to give my life meaning… this isn't just a job for me; it's my calling. The family I found at the 118 was what I'd been searching for, and it's just not the same for him."

"You don't think he fits in with us," Bobby guessed.

"No – I honestly think he'd be better at a station with a lot of macho guys competing against each other," Buck said with a shrug. "Like, that's what he wants, and we're not that."

"Well, he won't have to search too hard to find a station like that," Bobby replied, shaking his head. "I don't know. I guess we'll see how this weekend plays out."

"Maybe he'll… surprise us," Buck said, and then grimaced. "No."

Bobby chuckled. "No, he won't," he agreed, and then smiled warmly at him. "I really got lucky with you."

Buck was truly touched, but he couldn't help but say loftily, "You really did. I think that worked out really well for everyone."

"Who would've thought that you'd end up meeting your husband at our station, huh?" Bobby asked good-naturedly. "Nobody would've predicted that."

"No, I definitely didn't. Talk about being lucky," he replied, Eddie's smiling face flashing into his mind. "I don't think you'll be able to keep him away from the next one of these, if we get to go again next year. He's pretty jealous."

"I know. Next year, the both of you can come, and you can bring Christopher – if there isn't another little Diaz running around by then."

Buck shrugged. "It's in the cards. Eddie's deep in research mode, and Sophia is going to give us her eggs. We just need to find an agency and a surrogate."

"Your whole life will change," Bobby said to him. "For the best, I mean – before you have a baby, you wonder how you'll ever manage to do it, but then it happens… and it's the best feeling, to watch them grow? It happens so quickly. One day all they do is scream and sleep, then a month later they start smiling, and then they start making noises… and then they're drawing on your walls with crayons and you're wishing they were babies again."

Buck laughed. "Okay, you're making this sound great."

"It is. You'll love every minute of it," Bobby predicted, as Chimney and Cooper exited the restaurant. "Okay, guys. Cooper – you look like hell."

Cooper nodded, pale-faced and sweaty. "Yeah."

"I think we can all agree that this was a bad idea, right?"

"Yeah," he said again, "but I think if there weren't fries, I could've—"

"You didn't have to eat the fries," Chimney said to him quizzically. "You only had to eat the meat."

"It said you had to clean the plate!"

"Of the _meat_ ," Chimney stressed. "Is that why you were eating the fries? Dude, you need to read the rules next time."

Cooper's jaw hung open, and he let out a loud burp, and then clutched his stomach. "Oh god."

"Let's go back to our rooms," Bobby suggested quickly. "I think you should probably set up a nest in the bathroom tonight, Cooper."

* * *

Saturday morning brought with it the whirlwind that was Adriana – she'd caught the early flight out from El Paso, and bustled into their house at 9am with a bag of pastries and a tray of coffees.

Eddie was still half-asleep – he and Buck had stayed up way too late, talking on the phone – so he wordlessly accepted a coffee and sat at the dining table while she and Sophia fussed over each other.

Maddie arrived less than half an hour later, and all three women were exclaiming and hugging each other while he had a second cup of coffee and ate some scrambled eggs, Christopher at his side.

"Eddie," Adriana finally snapped at him. "Stop looking so grouchy. What's wrong with you?"

"His husband is away and they stayed up late on the phone," Sophia teased. "Didn't you?"

Eddie levelled a glare at them. "None of your business."

"What'd they get up to last night? Is _Cooper_ there with them?" Adriana asked, arching her eyebrows at him knowingly.

Maddie looked confused. "Cooper? That's the guy Chimney can't stand."

"And Buck and Eddie," Sophia said with a laugh.

"Is there a story here?" Maddie asked, adjusting Charlotte on her hip. "What's the deal with this guy?"

Adriana nodded at Christopher, who smiled up at Eddie and then protested when Eddie covered his ears with his hands. "Cooper has a thing for Buck, and Buck doesn't know."

Maddie's eyebrows flew up. " _Really._ "

"I told him," Eddie said quickly. "I had to tell him. Just in case Cooper tries anything on this trip."

"Dad!" Christopher protested, and Eddie quickly released him, holding a finger to his lips.

Adriana rolled her eyes, turning to Maddie and Sophia. "I think it's funny."

"I'm surprised you didn't go with him," Sophia said to Eddie, who shook his head at her. "I mean, I've been living with you guys now for a couple of months and you're hardly out of each other's sights. Is it killing you not knowing what Buck is up to right now?"

Eddie grinned. "Right now? He'll be warming up and working out, ready to enter the strength competition. He's about to spend most of the day flipping and dragging tyres, hauling hoses and whatever else they have planned."

"And you're not there to watch? You're a bad husband," Adriana admonished him.

"I have Christopher to think about – and Sophia," Eddie pointed out. "Chimney is filming it for me."

"What are brothers-in-law for?" Maddie asked, and then gave an excited little hop. "Are we going to the mall? Eddie, are you coming with us?"

"No, we're going to the museum," Eddie replied, raising his eyebrows at Christopher, who beamed at him. "And then I have a surprise planned for the afternoon."

"What is it?" Christopher hissed.

"You'll see, kiddo."

"I cannot believe you're leaving us on our own with _four children_ ," Adriana said bluntly.

"Four kids between three adults – somehow, I think you can handle it," he said dryly.

* * *

By midday, Buck had competed in two events – he'd flipped a tractor tyre end over end four times and come in third place, dragged a tractor tyre half a mile, and climbed a 100-foot rope in under thirty seconds. The woman from the 126 had bested him there, annoyingly, by just under a second.

Still, he was feeling good, and Chimney was shouting encouraging things at him from the sidelines, and only teasing him when he was nearby. Buck grabbed a bottle of water and wandered over to sit by him, watching as Cooper approached the rope.

"He's still looking green," Chimney remarked. "He told Bobby that he was sick most of the night."

"That's what happens when you try to eat half a cow for dinner," Buck replied, examining the videos Chimney had taken on his phone. "Did you zoom in on my butt when you took these?"

"Yeah, I thought your husband would appreciate it," Chimney said innocently.

"Well, you're not wrong, but still." Buck forwarded the videos to Eddie, and watched as Cooper began his ascent. "He's not going to make it."

"No, he's off his game."

Sure enough, Cooper only managed to climb halfway before sliding back down and landing on the ground with a thump. There was some scattered laughter, and he looked around bitterly before stalking over to them.

"This is bullshit," he complained, sweat pouring off him and soaking his shirt. "This is so stupid. It's too hot to be doing this."

"It's really not that bad, Coop," Chimney said mildly, his eyes trained on the field. "Where'd Bobby go?"

Buck pointed to where a gaggle of captains were seated together, deep in conversation. One of the captains was talking very seriously to Bobby – a slightly younger guy, wearing an Austin 126 shirt – and Bobby was nodding along, though he looked as though he wished he were anywhere else.

"That must be Judd's captain," Buck said to Chimney. "Talking to Bobby."

"Oh yeah, you're right. Bobby looks like he's having a great time." Chimney gestured to the field again and said, "Look at this guy."

The man strolling up to the tractor tyres was over six-feet tall with muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles, his dark skin glistening with a sprinkling of sweat. His tank top said he was from Detroit, and Buck watched, impressed, as he easily flipped the tyre up and over.

"This is bullshit," Cooper complained. "This guy looks like he's on 'roids or something."

"Cooper, shut up," Chimney said quietly.

"No, it's not fair. They should be pitting people of the same strength against each other – what, they bring in these huge bl—"

Buck snatched a hand out and clapped it across Cooper's mouth, shaking his head. "Shut the fuck up."

Cooper yanked away from him, shaking his head. "Whatever; this is rigged. I'm outta here."

"We're supposed to stay and watch even if we're not competing," Chimney said, but Cooper was already storming away from them. "He does know he'll get in trouble, right?"

"Do you really care?" Buck asked him, and he shook his head. "Me either. Let him go."

* * *

Saturday at the museum seemed like a good idea in theory, but in reality, there were about a hundred screaming kids around them, blocking most of the exhibits. Eddie and Christopher found it difficult to navigate, but found that the science exhibit was almost empty, and so they spent a good hour taking full advantage of everything it had to offer. There were plenty of interactive exhibits – a Gravitram, where a billiard ball made its way through various kinetic sculptures; a Tesla coil, which they were both fascinated by; an earthquake lab and a tsunami exhibit.

Christopher told the attendant proudly that he'd been in the tsunami, and the attendant had flashed Eddie a worried look before saying, "Well, it certainly affected everyone in Los Angeles, didn't it?"

"No, I was _in it_ ," Christopher said emphatically. "Buck saved me and we had to climb on a fire truck."

The attendant glanced at Eddie again with high eyebrows. "Oh my god, really?"

Eddie nodded at her, resting his hands on Christopher's shoulders. "He was caught up in it with my husband. They were both okay."

"Buck saved me," Christopher said proudly.

"I think that makes you super tough," she said, glancing around and then extracting a lollipop from her pocket. "I'm only supposed to give these out to the really special kids, okay? I think you qualify."

"Thank you!" Christopher exclaimed.

Eddie smiled at her. "Come on, kiddo. We've got to look at the mummies before we get some lunch."

They made their way across to the Egyptian exhibit, but by the time they reached the display of ancient jewellery, Eddie could tell that Christopher's energy was flagging. "Lunchtime," he said, as his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Hang on… Buck's sent a video. You want to watch it with me?"

Christopher nodded, leaning on his shoulder as he opened the video. There was Buck, at the base of a long rope, jogging on the spot. When a whistle blew he began to haul himself up, and Christopher let out a whispered, " _Wooow_ ," as Buck made quick work of the rope.

"Pretty impressive," Eddie said proudly. "That's our guy."

"He's _amazing._ "

"Yeah, he is. You want a piggyback?"

"Yes, please."

Eddie took his crutches, turned so Christopher could clamber onto his back, and then stood. "All right, let's get some food."

* * *

"And the thing is," Chimney said through a mouthful of cheeseburger, "I don't think he realises how annoying he actually is. I think he thinks he's impressing us."

"He's not," Buck said bluntly, and stole a pickle from Chimney's plate.

Chimney swatted at him, and then said, "Even you weren't this bad. You were annoying – you're _still_ annoying. Stop stealing my pickles."

"You don't like them," Buck retorted, and snatched another, laughing when Chimney yanked his plate out of his reach.

Bobby cleared his throat, and they relaxed, though continued to eye each other suspiciously. "God, I can't take you two anywhere," he complained.

"Sorry, Cap." Chimney wiped sauce from his lips with a napkin. "Where is he, anyway?"

They were seated in a café down the block from the hotel, at an outside table shaded by an umbrella. Buck's muscles were sore after a morning of physical exertion, but he was planning to take an Uber to the Oak Cliff Nature Preserve to do some hiking before the day was through.

Cooper had vanished – they guessed he was back at the hotel, but nobody was really sure, and Buck was happy to see the back of him. It was nice just to hang out with Bobby and Chimney. He felt relaxed for the first time since they'd left LA.

"Ah, Hollywood," a familiar voice called from behind them, and Buck glanced over his shoulder to find the crew from Austin strolling up the footpath. "Nice effort out there today," Judd said. "Diaz, right?" He held out his hand, and Buck shook it.

"Evan Buckley Diaz, but everyone calls me Buck," he replied. "I didn't see you out there."

"Nah, I was support crew," Judd said with a grin. "You remember Marjan, and this is Paul."

"This is Chimney, and our Captain, Bobby," Buck introduced, and everyone shook hands.

"Nice to meet you guys officially," Chimney said.

"Where's the other guy?" Paul asked curiously. "The one who tried eating a whole cow last night."

"We assume he's back at the hotel licking his wounds," Chimney replied dryly.

Marjan exchanged a look with Judd and said, "He's an interesting guy."

"No, he's not," Buck and Chimney said at the same time.

"He just doesn't really have the ability to distinguish a good idea from a bad idea," Bobby explained delicately, "which leads to him attempting to eat an entire cow at dinner."

"Up here, guys!" a voice called from further down the street, and Judd held his arm over his head in a wave.

"Enjoy your burgers," he said, and then dropped his voice low. "We're going to an organic café."

Buck was confused. "They have organic cafes here?"

"I don't know; I only looked up the best burger and barbeque places," Chimney replied, licking his fingers.

* * *

Eddie and Christopher had lunch together at In-n-Out (Christopher's choice), and sat at a table inside the restaurant together.

"It's been a long time since it's just been you and me, kiddo," Eddie commented, taking a sip of his soda. "But I miss having Buck around."

"Me too," Christopher replied. "Do you think he misses us?"

"I know he does," Eddie replied, checking his phone. "He's sent me three messages in the last five minutes. He's going to do a hike this afternoon."

"Can he come home tomorrow?"

"No, he's got a big day tomorrow; they have to sit through presentations all day, and again on Monday," Eddie replied, popping a French fry into his mouth. "But he'll be home when you finish school on Tuesday, and you two can hang out until I come home from work."

Appeased, Christopher nodded, and then examined his burger. Eddie had already cut it in half for him, but it was a little too large for his hands.

"Do you want me to cut it again?" Eddie asked, and Christopher nodded happily. He cut the burger into quarters and then sat back, watching as Christopher took his first big bite. "Good?"

"Uh _huh_."

Eddie took a bite of his own burger, and they ate in silence for a few minutes – long enough for Christopher to smear sauce around his mouth. Eddie couldn't resist the opportunity to take a photo of him, grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and sent it to Buck.

He and Buck had discussed when the right time would be to bring up the possibility of them having another child with Christopher – the initial idea had been to do it together, but because Buck was going away, and Eddie would have some one-on-one time with Christopher, they'd agreed that he would bring it up with him first.

He waited until Christopher was almost finished his meal, and then said, "So kiddo," he said. "Buck and I talked to you about this a while ago, but we're thinking that we're going to start looking into having another kid."

Christopher's eyes widened. "Okay…"

"I'm just talking to you about this now so you don't feel blindsided," he said carefully. "Obviously, Aunt Sophia needs to find her own place to live, and we need to get our house back – and this process could take us some time to go through, so… it's probably not going to be this year. Next year, maybe – but it's in the cards."

Christopher nodded, a worried look crossing his face. "So it won't just be the three of us anymore."

"No, but we'll always be a team – we're just adding a new member to the team," Eddie said gently. "A little brother or sister who you will love, and who will love you. I know how amazing you're going to be as a big brother."

He smiled hopefully, and then said, "But Max will still be my cat, right?"

"Do you think there's any world in which Max wouldn't think you're the number one greatest human being on the planet? That cat worships you."

"He's the best cat." Christopher sipped his soda, and then said, "I'm going to be an awesome big brother."

Eddie nodded at him, and then leaned across impulsively to kiss his forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

They smiled at each other, and then Eddie said, "And Buck's organised something special for us this afternoon. Are you ready to go?"

"Where?!"

* * *

"Hey, Hollywood!"

Buck, who'd literally put one foot on the hiking trail, turned around with a good-natured groan. "Are you following me or something?"

Judd jogged up to him with a grin. "Nah man, just lucky. Where are your buddies?"

"Back at the hotel," he said, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm here for the view."

"Me too. Want some company?"

"Sure thing." Buck had been planning on jogging the trail with his headphones in, but settled for walking side-by-side with Judd. The path led them to a thick wall of trees and up a hill to a lookout point, before snaking back down to the carpark. "You guys worked together long? That Marjan is tough as nails."

"Yeah, she's great," Judd replied. "We've only been working together for a couple of years. She moved out from Miami; she was a big star out there."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, a female Muslim firefighter and all that; plus she's big on social media. How long you been a firefighter now?"

"Uh, six years now. I went to the academy in LA and I've been at the 118 ever since."

"You got into it late then?" Judd asked, tipping his hat back on his forehead as they worked their way up the path.

"I was twenty-five; I was a bit lost before. You?"

"Pretty much right out of school," Judd replied. "I've been with the 126 in Austin the whole time… well, I'm with an all new crew now."

Buck glanced at him, and suddenly realised why the 126 and Austin sounded so familiar. "Shit, man. It just hit me. The industrial explosion a few years ago. I'm sorry, man."

Judd nodded. "Yeah, I've… taken some time to work through that; kind of messed me around a bit. Thankfully my wife was there for me every step of the way."

"You're married?"

"Yeah, her name's Grace," Judd said proudly, holding up a phone to show a picture of himself and his wife. "She's my everything. How about you? Married?"

"Yeah, my husband and I met at work," Buck replied, and showed him a picture of Eddie and Christopher on his phone. "They're my everything."

"No way," Judd said, peering at the photo. "I didn't know you were married to a dude. That's your son?"

"Eddie's son from his first marriage, but my adopted son. The greatest kid in the whole world."

"How long you been married?"

"We're coming up on a year," he said, tucking his phone back into his pocket.

"Newlyweds! Good for you, man. That's awesome. What's his name?"

"Eddie Diaz – technically I'm a Diaz now too, but we're still trying to switch everything over," Buck explained, as they rounded a corner and came across their first steep set of stairs. "He's an El Paso boy."

"No way, really? You married a Texas boy? Good for you!"

* * *

Christopher looked around the planetarium with enormous, awestruck eyes. " _Wow._ "

Eddie grinned at him. "Buck's idea. He's always wanted to bring you here."

"We'll come back with him, right Dad?"

"Yeah, definitely. They have more than one show." Eddie ruffled his hair affectionately, just as his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Speak of the devil…"

Sure enough, Buck had sent through a picture – he was at the top of a hiking trail, with the Dallas skyline in the background. Eddie briefly wondered who had taken the photo when a selfie popped up – Buck, with a new friend.

 _Who's that?_ Eddie couldn't help but reply curiously.

Buck's reply was instant. _My new friend Judd from the Austin 126 – I told him you were an El Paso boy and he says that your football teams suck_

Eddie snorted with laughter, just as the lights began to dim. _Don't fall in love with another Texan boy_ , he quickly replied.

Buck's response was instant. _Never. I love you the most xx_

* * *

Buck and Judd parted ways at the hotel, promising to catch up at the conference the next day. He went up to their floor and let himself into his room, quickly showering and changing for dinner.

There was a thump at his door. "Diaz," Chimney called. "Let me in."

Buck opened the door for him, still buttoning his shirt. "Did you have a good afternoon?"

"Yeah, if you call souvenir shopping for my future wife and our daughter good," Chimney replied. "Have you seen Cooper?"

"No."

"Neither have we, and he's not answering his door."

"He's not dead, is he?" Buck joked.

Chimney just shrugged at him. "I honestly don't know. Bobby's left a message and told him where our dinner reservation is, but he hasn't replied."

"Probably still smarting; I wouldn't worry about it." Buck grabbed his phone, wallet and hotel key from the table, and stuffed them into his pockets. "Where are we going for dinner?"

"Bobby picked the restaurant; he said he doesn't trust us after last night," Chimney replied, leading him out of the room.

"I thought we were perfectly well-behaved."

"I did too!"

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Eddie and Christopher arrived home to barely controlled chaos – Maddie was staying the night in the spare room downstairs, and Adriana was staying as well but sharing Sophia's bed. Sophia's kids were racing around the backyard together, playing some kind of loud, shrieking game. The three women were in the kitchen, cooking and talking loudly – and they barely noticed when Eddie and Christopher walked in.

Eddie stood in the kitchen doorway with his arms folded across his chest. "Hello?"

"Eddie!" Sophia exclaimed, holding up a bottle of wine. "Wine? You want some wine?"

"What are you guys making?"

"Well, it's pasta," Maddie said, and then grimaced. "But it's not looking great. Adriana said she could handle it, but—"

"I am handling it," Adriana snapped from the stove.

Eddie shook his head at them, bending over to tickle Charlotte, who was chilling out with a bottle in her stroller, totally relaxed amongst the chaos.

"How was your day?" Sophia asked Christopher, who smiled up at her. "Did you have a good time?"

"It was awesome. We went to the planetarium," he said proudly. "Dad loved it."

Sophia glanced at Eddie, who nodded. "Buck arranged the tickets for us."

"He is so thoughtful," Sophia said, ruffling Christopher's hair. "I think your kitty cat is missing you."

"Have some wine," Adriana said to Eddie, as Christopher started down the hallway in search of Max. "And let me tell you the exciting news. We three have had a brainwave."

Eddie took a seat at the kitchen table, wincing as Maddie filled his glass almost to the brim. "Okay?"

"We're having a girls' night!" Maddie exclaimed, and all three women turned blinding, eager smiles on him.

Confused, Eddie said, "So you want me to… go to bed early?"

"No, you're one of the girls," Sophia admonished, exchanging a look with Adriana, who was grinning.

"I am?"

Maddie leaned in and murmured, "I tried to tell them you probably wouldn't be interested."

"In… what? What am I doing?" he asked, suddenly nervous.

"We're just going to watch _Dirty Dancing_ , maybe a couple of episodes of _RuPaul's Drag Race_ and maybe some music videos," Adriana said innocently, though she and Sophia exchanged a wicked look – he had no idea what that was about, and was too scared to question it.

"I don't – I mean, I'm good, I could just… I'll probably just call Buck and go to sleep, and you guys can do whatever you want—"

"I really don't think you have a choice," Maddie whispered.

His sisters were both staring at him with raised eyebrows. "Edmundo, we are going to make a _charcuterie board_ ," Sophia snapped. "We bought champagne. You're doing this, now shut up."

"Okay, okay," he replied, holding his hands up. "But you know Buck's going to be pissed that he's missing out on girls' night."

"Buck's already one of the girls; it's you we need to work on," Adriana said matter-of-factly. "For an openly gay, married man, you're not very fabulous."

"Isn't that kind of… stereotyping, or…"

"You could at least pretend for one night," Sophia added. "Remember when we were kids and we used to put you in dresses?"

"Sophia!"

Maddie was laughing, a glass of wine held loosely in her hand. "Tell me there are photos."

"There are; I'll send them through when I go home," Adriana said from the stove. "He was such a pretty little princess."

Eddie covered his face with his hands, shaking his head. "This is what happens when you grow up with two evil sisters."

"Evil," Sophia said petulantly. "I think we're _wonderful._ You turned out beautifully, Eddie, and it was entirely thanks to us."

He turned to Maddie, who shrugged helplessly at him. "You think I'm in control of this?" she asked, gesturing to Sophia and Adriana with her wine glass. "These two do what they want."

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem," he muttered, shaking his head. "Okay. Fine."

"We had another idea, though, that we just wanted to run past you real quick," Adriana said. "Before you sneak out of here."

He stopped near the door, turning to face them. "What?"

"Yeah, so the guy you hate," Sophia said, taking a sip of wine. "Cooper."

"What about him?"

"We found his Instagram," Maddie said, sharing an excited glance with Sophia. "And we waited until you came home to tell you."

"Why?" he asked, confused. "What's the big deal?"

"We're going to get you drunk, and then we're going to go through and make fun of him to make you feel better about how great you are and how much he sucks," Sophia said bluntly.

Eddie let out a laugh. "Um… did you wait to do this when Buck wasn't here—"

"Because Buck would be too nice about it and say that we're being mean? Yes, of course we waited," Adriana said bluntly. "I love Buck, but he's too damn nice."

"It is kinda mean," Maddie admitted.

"Maddie – no. Don't you flake out on us now," Adriana ordered, waving a wooden spoon at her. "We're getting wine drunk and doing this, and it's going to be fun."

"But we can't get too drunk until the kids are asleep," Sophia pointed out. "So let's pace ourselves and make them all go to bed early."

"You know what his username is, right?" Maddie said to Eddie, who shook his head. "BigCoop98. Hen told us."

"Hen knows about this?"

"Yeah, and Athena too," Maddie said guiltily. "Hen was at Athena's house when I phoned her."

Eddie rubbed his face. "You're gonna get me in trouble with Bobby."

"For what? For looking at some douchebag's Instagram and making fun of him? He'll literally never know," Adriana said dismissively. "Soph, go wrangle your kids and get them all bathed. Maddie, do whatever you've got to do for Charlotte, and Eddie, you've probably already sufficiently exhausted Christopher today so good job. We're gonna get these kids to eat, and then sleep, and then we're getting drunk."

* * *

Bobby had picked a nice restaurant in downtown Dallas, so dinner was a civilised affair – with no Cooper around to dominate the conversation, they mostly discussed work and Chimney's upcoming wedding, where Albert and Hen would be serving as best man and best woman respectively.

The plan was for Buck to walk Maddie down the aisle and then stand by her side as brides-man, with Adriana serving as matron-of-honour as well. That was about the only thing they'd decided – they had nothing else planned, as Maddie was waiting for Sophia to be in a position to help her with the wedding.

It was during their appetisers that Buck received a message from Eddie – _The girls want to get me drunk, help_

"Ah, Chim," he said with a laugh. "Eddie's messaged me and said that the girls are getting him drunk."

"Oh no," Bobby murmured, shaking his head. "Poor Eddie."

Buck was replying to Eddie, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "He'll be suffering right now. He just messaged and said they're making him watch _Dirty Dancing_."

"Starting the night out with a bit of Swayze," Chimney commented, nodding appreciatively. "Nice choice."

Eddie's reply popped up. _They want me to be gayer – how do I be gayer? I'm pretty gay already_. _What's RuPaul's drag race? Buck HELP_

"He wants to know what _RuPaul's Drag Race_ is," Buck said with a chuckle. "Oh no."

Bobby gave him a questioning look. "What is it?"

* * *

"So you remember when you were like, fifteen or something," Adriana said to Eddie, a flute of champagne held loosely in her hand, her hair pulled on top of her head in a ridiculously high ponytail with a glittery scrunchie, "and your football coach told you that you'd be a lot better at it if you learned to dance, so you took dance lessons?"

"You took _dance lessons_ ," Maddie said with interest, leaning forward – she was wearing bright pink sweats and fluffy white slippers, the baby monitor cradled in her lap. "Does Buck know this?"

"Buck knows everything about me," he said, swatting Sophia away as she held up a jar of nail polish hopefully. "No, you're not painting my nails!"

"You're absolutely no fun and you suck at this entirely," Sophia said bluntly.

He rolled his eyes, clutching a pillow to his chest protectively. They'd wanted him to dress up as well – Sophia was in a unicorn onesie with her hair in a similarly high ponytail – but he'd resisted, and was wearing one of Buck's stretched out t-shirts and his pyjama bottoms. After they'd put the kids to bed, he'd spent an hour fending them off – first they wanted him to put on some make-up, then Sophia decided he needed to paint his nails, and then Adriana wanted him to wear a beauty mask. The only thing he'd agreed to do was the mask, and he'd only agreed to _that_ because Buck had made him actually care about his skin.

The charcuterie board had been partially devoured, and the movie was still playing on the TV. Adriana's eyes were focused on it whenever Patrick Swayze was on screen, but when he wasn't, she would return to being an absolute monster.

"Yeah, so when he was fifteen he took dance lessons, ballet and stuff, right? And he's pretty good at it," she said to Maddie, reaching over to steal another grape from the board. "He's a really good dancer. You didn't notice at the wedding reception?"

"I thought your moves were suspiciously good," Maddie said to him, and he shook his head. "Like you two had been practicing."

"Oh, do you and Buck _dance together?_ " Sophia asked, clasping her hands together. "Do you?"

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Yes."

"Awwww," all three women said at the same time, and he covered his face with the pillow, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Ugh, they're so sweet it's revolting," Adriana remarked.

"Do you and Buck go to gay bars together?" Maddie asked him curiously.

He shook his head. "Just to the hook and ladder places."

"Why not? You should go and be amongst your community, shouldn't you?" Sophia asked, glancing at the other two women for confirmation. "Isn't that what it's all about?"

"Yeah, Eddie, isn't that what it's all about?" Adriana asked dryly.

Eddie shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Buck wanted to check out a couple of places when we were in El Paso but I felt kind of weird about it."

"Do you think you're going to get hit on?" Sophia asked him in a low voice. "Because that's very arrogant."

"No," he protested.

"He thinks _Buck_ is going to get hit on," Adriana said knowingly.

He shot her a death glare, and she cackled.

"Just don't do any of that possessive stuff," Maddie said to Eddie gently. "Okay? I know how much you love him, but Buck's never going to cheat on you. He loves you too much."

"No, I know," he reassured her. "I know. I just… really love him a lot."

"Yeah, you two are pretty gross about it," Adriana remarked.

Maddie smiled warmly at him. "I think it's sweet."

"I think it's annoying. You should try living with it," Sophia said, and then pointed to the screen. "The dance! Everyone shut up!"

They watched the final dance sequence in silence, all three women gazing at the screen with veritable heart eyes, practically swooning.

"Eddie," Adriana said, when the scene was over. "Do you think if we went into the backyard, you could lift Sophia over your head like that?"

"No," he said instantly, but Sophia was bouncing up and down eagerly. "No! I don't want to break my back!"

"Rude!" she shouted, and whipped a pillow at his head.

* * *

In terms of the nightlife in Dallas, there wasn't much they could agree on, and were discussing it in the street outside the restaurant when the crew from Austin happened upon them, and talked them into joining them at a honky tonk bar. The place was hopping - a country and western band was playing to a crowd of raucous revellers. They found a table outside on the street, where it was quieter, and swapped stories over a few drinks.

Bobby was mostly chatting with Captain Strand, though from his polite laughter, Buck guessed Bobby was mostly humouring the guy.

"Y'all should come to Austin sometime," Judd was saying to Buck. "Bring your husband and I'll introduce you to my wife, and show you guys the sights."

"I think Eddie's been to Austin but I haven't," Buck replied, swigging his beer. "I've been trying to talk him into a Texan road trip but he wants to go to the East Coast first."

"Where are you from?" Paul asked, raising his voice over the loud music.

"Philly," Buck replied. "Originally, but I moved around a bunch."

"What made you decide on LA?" Judd asked him.

"The beach," Buck said with a grin. "Though I regretted that a couple of years ago when we got hit with that tsunami."

"Buck was in the tsunami," Chimney said, leaning over them with another round of beers. "He was on the pier."

"No way," Marjan said, her eyes wide.

He nodded, shaking his head at Chimney. "Can't resist," he shouted at him.

"What? You're a big damn hero; I like talking you up," Chimney replied, flashing him a grin.

"Yeah, but like, what happened?" Marjan asked, leaning in with interest. "Tell us _everything._ "

"And like six months before that, this guy was in a ladder truck that blew up, and he got pinned under it and completely shattered his leg," Chimney added, because he'd had a few beers and was intent on making Buck's life miserable.

"That was _you?_ " Marjan exclaimed. "No way!"

"Dude, your leg must've been toast!" Judd added. "How are you up and walking around? I saw you practically run up a hill today!"

"Uh…" Embarrassed, Buck could only shake his head. "I don't know; I just… went through a ton of rehab, I guess."

"You know they said there was some ridiculously small percentage of people who were on the pier that actually survived the tsunami," Marjan said, sipping a non-alcoholic beer. "You got super lucky, man."

"He was on blood thinners at the time," Chimney said, leaning over Buck's shoulder, ignoring his groan of protest. "Because he passed a clot through his heart a few days before—"

"Chimney!"

Judd, Paul and Marjan were staring at him with a mixture of fascination and horror. "How are you _alive?_ " Judd demanded. "Someone get this man another drink!"

Buck glared at Chimney, who was snickering behind his beer, when a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. "Hey, I'm not the only walking miracle around here," he said, and Chimney's eyes went wide. "This guy got impaled with a length of rebar, right through the skull."

Judd levelled a finger at him. "You! You're the guy! I heard about you!"

"No _way_ ," Marjan said, leaning in close to examine his forehead. "Where's the scar? How'd you do it?"

"I heard you were back at work in a month, dude," Judd said, shaking his head in amazement. "One month!"

Chimney shrugged, clearly flattered but trying to act cool. "Oh, you know, I just got lucky," he said nonchalantly, though he couldn't wipe the smile from his face.

"Lucky?! You got impaled through the brain with rebar, son!" Judd exclaimed. "Man, you LA boys are tough as nails. Let's order another round!"

* * *

"Please," Sophia said, perched on her knees on the couch, a jar of nail polish clutched in her hands. "Please."

"No," he said flatly, ignoring her puppy-dog eyes.

"Please."

"No."

"Oh, just let her do it," Adriana said from the recliner, scrolling through music videos on YouTube. "So Maddie, when were teenagers we made Eddie come to this Backstreet Boys concert with us, right?"

"We weren't allowed to go unless Eddie came," Sophia corrected, waving the nail polish in his face. "If you don't want red, maybe another colour? I've got purple."

"No," he said, accepting a full glass of champagne from Maddie. "Seriously, no."

Sophia rolled her eyes, rummaging through her bag of nail polish again.

"And he said he hated it," Adriana was saying, clicking through Backstreet Boys videos, "but I've long harboured a suspicion that he secretly loved it."

Sophia gave Eddie a shove. "Did we make you gay?!"

"No," he groaned, chuckling helplessly when she shook him back and forth. "No, you didn't!"

"I feel like we at least contributed," Sophia said to Adriana, who laughed. "He's such a sweetheart, and if he really, really loved me, he would let me paint his toenails bright pink."

Eddie glared at her, shaking his head. "No."

She sighed, and held up a darker shade of pink. "Coral."

"No."

"Turquoise."

"No."

"Royal purple."

"No."

Sophia grumbled, sifting through the bottles again. "Ah," she said, and held up a sparkly jar. "Rose gold."

"Yes," Adriana said from the armchair.

"Agreed, Eddie – it'll look so pretty," Maddie said from the other recliner, as TLC danced on the television screen. "God, I love this song."

Sophia waved the jar in Eddie's face. "Please."

He eyed it, and then said, in a voice barely audible, "Fine."

"He said yes!" she squealed, and the other two cheered, holding their glasses over their heads. "All right, give me your foot. Wow, your nails are really neat – do you do this yourself? Your feet are really well taken care of, Eddie. Did you do this?"

He paused, and then said, "Buck does it for both of us."

There was a long silence, as the three women exchanged furtive looks, biting back smiles. "That's very cute," Maddie finally said, and then pressed her lips together to hold in her laughter. "Very sweet."

"If you're gonna make fun of me—"

"No one's making fun, just relax," Sophia cut in, waggling the bottle at him. "Relax. Buck's going to _love this."_

* * *

Bobby was the one who called an end to their night, and they bid farewell to the crew from Austin, before heading down the bustling street to the hotel. Buck checked his phone as they walked along, letting out a laugh. "Well, they talked Eddie into it."

"What'd they make him do?" Chimney asked with interest.

"They painted his toenails, but he won't send me a picture. Oh wait – Sophia just did," he said, clicking open, and letting out a laugh. "Rose gold. Nice."

He held the phone up for them – there was Eddie, in his pyjamas, glowering at the camera in the background while Sophia took a selfie with his very pretty feet.

"He's going to be desperate for you to come home," Bobby said with a grin.

"You think if I was there, I'd be able to stop this? His sisters are on a rampage tonight," Buck replied, sending a supportive text to Eddie.

_Babe, when I get home, we'll take it off with nail polish remover – but you look very pretty and I love you_

Eddie sent through a blushing, smiley emoji and added, _They're driving me insane. U on the way back to the hotel?_

 _Nearly there_ , he replied, looking up from his phone as they crossed the street. _Going to shower and hit the sack – call you in the morning?_

_Yep. Love you xxxx_

Buck responded with a series of hearts and kisses of his own. They entered the hotel lobby and managed to grab an elevator all to themselves.

Bobby was checking his phone, a frown on his face. "Cooper never replied to me. I have no idea where he ended up."

"Maybe he met up with some other firefighters and went out with them," Chimney suggested. "I wouldn't worry too much."

"He's meant to be on his best behaviour." Bobby let out a sigh, shaking his head. "I'll deal with him tomorrow."

When they reached their floor, Buck bid them both goodnight, and let himself into his room – alone, for the first time all day, he let out a deep breath and then flopped onto the bed, pleasantly exhausted.

* * *

"Okay, so let's have a look here," Adriana said, perched on her knees on the floor in front of the television. She'd connected her phone to the TV, and was scrolling through Instagram. "What did you say his username was?"

"BigCoop98," Sophia replied, a full glass of wine in her hand. "Ooh, I can't wait for this."

Eddie was on the couch, a pillow pulled up to his chest. "Guys…"

"Shhh," Maddie hissed at him.

"Okay, here he is! Totally public profile," Adriana said triumphantly, as the first of what Eddie guessed were many shirtless selfies filled the screen. "All right. This is the guy?"

"That's him," he said, sinking lower into the couch. "Do we have—"

"Well first of all," Sophia interrupted, "he's not cute."

"No, not at all," Adriana agreed. "That nose, those ears? And his eyes are too close together. Eddie, are you looking at this?"

"No," he said from behind the pillow.

"I mean, he's not horrible looking," Maddie said diplomatically, "but like… he seems kind of full of himself. Even from these pictures."

"Remember, we all hate this guy," Adriana reminded them. "He nearly got both Buck _and_ Eddie killed, okay? So we all collectively as a group agree that we hate him."

"Yeah, we hate him, he sucks," Sophia said with an enthusiastic slurp of her wine.

"Maddie?"

Maddie, the world's nicest person, paused and said, "Hate is such a strong word…"

"Damn it, Buckley," Adriana snapped at her, and Maddie began to laugh. "Say you hate him. He nearly _murdered your little brother._ "

"It wasn't so much a murder as it was an accident—"

"Oh my god, she's now defending him," Sophia said to Adriana, who shook her head ruefully. "She's defending a _murderer._ "

Maddie sat up straight. "I'm not! But I don't hate this guy. Does he really have a thing for Buck?"

"Yes," Adriana and Sophia said at the same time.

Maddie turned to Eddie, who nodded unhappily at her.

"Aw," she said sympathetically. "No wonder you can't stand him."

"Let's look at his videos from today," Adriana exclaimed. She opened the first story – there was Cooper, in front of the mirror wearing only his boxer briefs, examining his reflection. "Ugh, really?"

"What's he doing?" Sophia asked, as Cooper grinned for the camera. "Gross."

Eddie peeked over the top of the cushion, watching as Cooper's face filled the screen. "Well, I'm here in Dallas," he said, "with the boys from work – Buck and I are going to be doing some strength challenges today, so I'll have videos for you guys."

They all went silent. "Why is he talking about Buck?" Maddie finally asked quizzically.

"He's talking about Buck like Buck is a part of this," Adriana added. "What a weirdo."

The next video popped up – there was Buck, in a tight grey t-shirt and black sweatpants, laughing at something Chimney was saying. The phone zoomed in on him, raking over the defined muscles on his chest lasciviously until Cooper's face filled the frame and said, "It's getting _hot in here._ "

Eddie's heart plummeted into his stomach. "What the fuck?"

The next video was Buck again – flipping tyres. Chimney had sent him a similar video that morning, but to see his beautiful husband through the eyes of the man who clearly wanted to sleep with him had Eddie feeling sick.

"I mean, Buck looks fucking amazing, let's face it," Adriana remarked. "I can totally see why this guy is obsessed with him."

"That doesn't make it right," Sophia hissed at her. "Buck's married."

The next video was of Buck climbing the ropes – he ascended to the top with practiced ease, effortlessly graceful, and then made his way back down easily. Cooper zoomed in on him again as he reached the bottom – his shirt had ridden up, exposing a hint of bare skin.

Eddie groaned. "This motherfucker. I need to call Buck."

"No!" Adriana snapped at him. "This is harmless."

"It's not harmless," Maddie murmured.

Cooper's face filled the screen again. "So yeah, Buck did really well today," he said – he was walking down the street by himself, and Eddie wondered what that was all about. "And I think tonight's the night for us; I think I'm finally going to take my chance with him while we're here in Dallas and his stupid husband isn't here with him. Remember, you can find all my daily vlogs at my TikTok, and I'll be going live on TikTok at 10.30pm as well. Come join me and ask any questions you want; I'll tell you all about Buck, anything you want to know."

The video cut out, and they all stared at each other in shock.

"Daily vlogs," Adriana said. "What is he _doing?_ "

"It's like he thinks he's some kind of influencer or something," Sophia added, totally confused.

Eddie was fumbling with his phone, trying to call Buck. "He said that he was going to try with Buck tonight, didn't he? That's what he said."

"Yes," all three women responded.

Eddie called Buck's number, holding the phone to his ear. "Is he for real?"

"Let's download TikTok and find out," Adriana suggested, already searching the App Store on her phone.

* * *

Buck was in bed – a full day of physical activity plus a big meal had him completely wiped out. The lights were out; his phone was on silent, and he was snoring into a pillow, sound asleep.

* * *

"He's not answering," Eddie said, a little frantic. "He's not answering his phone."

"Calm down, calm down," Maddie reassured him. "Adriana's figured out TikTok now."

"What was his name again?" Adriana asked, focused on her phone.

"BigCoop98," Sophia supplied.

She typed it in, and his profile popped up on the screen. "Okay, he's not live yet… oh my god, what are these videos? He looks naked! Is this a porn app?"

"No, no – it's not," Sophia reassured her. "But people do get pretty racy on there. I won't let the kids download it yet. They're still a little young."

"Okay," Adriana replied, pressing play on the first video. "Let's figure out what we're dealing with here."

Cooper was shirtless in his turn-out gear, doing a sexy dance for the camera – the first five videos were variations of the same theme, he was always shirtless, in his turnout gear, and often in the bathrooms at the station.

"Bobby will lose his mind about this," Eddie murmured.

Adriana kept scrolling, and then found a video of Cooper speaking directly into the camera. "Yo, so just got home from an engagement party for my man Chimney and his girlfriend Maggie," Cooper said, his voice a little slurred.

" _Maggie_ ," Maddie said, aghast.

Cooper's face loomed large on the television screen. "Like, I like being a firefighter and all, you know, the brotherhood and whatnot, but like… the emphasis on family at the 118 is kinda over the top. Like, take Buck for example," he said. "He doesn't talk to his parents, so our Captain is like his father, and then he married one of the guys we work with, and Chimney is marrying his sister. Like… they're all involved with each other, this little clique, and if you don't fit in it's like… you're cut out. I hate it."

"Oh, gee," Maddie murmured.

Adriana shot her a pointed look. "Do not start feeling sorry for this asshole."

"I'm not!"

Cooper burped, and then said, "Let me tell you the other thing. I am telling you right now that if I had half a chance, I would _let Buck pound me into the next century_. He is so hot. God, he's such a babe. What I wouldn't give for just one night with him, wow."

"Oh no," Maddie groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Eddie was rigid, staring at the TV, his phone clenched in his hand.

The video changed – another shirtless dancing video – and Adriana scrolled through. "Oh, look – it's a vlog. Let's see what this is about."

Cooper had seemingly filmed random parts of his day. "Hey guys, this is me at 6am doing my daily workout in the garage at home, that's my Mom making breakfast – shout-out to the best mom in the world, whaddup Helen – okay here I am at work, there's Hen and Chimney making sure the ambulance is well-stocked, and here I am doing a coffee run and grabbing myself a cheeky doughnut, don't mind me." The video cut to an extreme close-up of him biting into a jelly doughnut, and they all groaned in unison. "In the afternoon we got called out to a car accident on the 405 and I helped Buck put out several cars that were on fire—"

"No," Eddie objected. "I did that. He was with Hen and Chimney."

"Shh," Adriana hissed at him.

"And then tonight at work Buck and Bobby cooked us this Mexican feast." There was a video of the entire crew eating dinner together, but the camera panned in on Buck, who was smiling adoringly at Eddie, before it cut to a close-up of Cooper's nostrils. "And I have this weird pimple on my nose, it's super gross. Anyway, that was my day! Peace out, guys!"

Stunned, they all stared at each other, until Adriana found a similar video.

"I can't watch this; it is humiliating," Maddie said, holding her hands over her eyes. "Does he know how humiliating this is?"

"I really don't think he does," Sophia said, shaking her head in amazement. "Keep going!"

"Hey guys, welcome to a day in the life of an LA firefighter," Cooper said, grinning for the camera. "I got up at six and had a protein shake, and then my mom made me breakfast – Helen for the win! – before I went to work. We had a great call-out this morning, a mansion in Beverly Hills where this actual wildcat mauled two people." A shot of the house flashed up, followed by Buck sprinting inside with an axe. "Eddie accidentally let the cat out, but Buck and I managed to contain it in a cupboard. It was pretty gnarly!"

Eddie was spluttering. "What – he's lying!"

Adriana raised her eyebrows at him pointedly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I didn't let the freaking cat out!"

There was a shot of the station, and Buck jogging on the treadmill. "This afternoon I spotted for Buck in the gym before we grabbed a coffee together—"

"Liar," Eddie snapped.

"And then I found out that I'm going to Dallas with him this weekend for a leadership conference. I'll bring you guys along and vlog my day, it's gonna be great! Peace out!"

The video ended, and all three women turned to Eddie with high eyebrows. "So you let the cat out," Sophia began.

He rubbed his face with both hands and said, "No, I had it contained in the kitchen until we realised it could open doors. That's how it got out. He's taking credit for the stuff Buck and I have done."

"And he's kinda acting like Buck is his boyfriend," Maddie said slowly. "Right? That's what it seems like to me."

Adriana was scrolling further back, and finally came across a video with the words, ' _Buck Part 1'_ in block letters in the thumbnail. She grinned and hit play.

"Hey guys," Cooper said – he was at the beach, the breeze tousling his hair. "I'm gonna talk about something pretty serious today. He's the man I'm in love with, and I want to tell you all about him."

"Oh no," Maddie groaned, covering her face again.

An out-of-focus photo of Buck filled the screen. "This is Buck – we work together, and ever since I started, there has been something pretty special between us," Cooper said in a voiceover. "Things are a _little_ complicated."

"Due to the fact that he is literally married to someone else," Sophia murmured.

"And it's kinda hard, because we work together," Cooper said, as a video of Buck laughing with Hen and Chimney filled the screen. "But I know he's the one for me. I just can't work out how to tell him."

The picture changed to a blurry video of Buck, holding a tray of coffees. "Here you go, Coop," he said, handing him a cup, though he was looking past him and to the right. "Eddie!"

"Oh yeah, he's so into you," Adriana said sarcastically, "as he calls out for his husband. This guy is delusional."

Cooper's face filled the screen again. "He's married," he said ruefully, "but I don't believe in marriage, so… there's hope for us yet. We'll have our moment; I know we will. Peace out, guys."

"Okay, so _he_ doesn't believe in marriage which means in his mind, it is perfectly okay for him to pursue Buck," Maddie said slowly. "This guy needs help."

"He needs a wake-up call," Adriana said, scrolling through the videos. "There are another four videos that I can see about Buck. Tons about working at the 118. Oh my god, there's one about Eddie. Let's watch that one."

Eddie groaned, trying Buck again. To his right, Maddie was texting on her phone as well, frowning deeply.

Techno music began to play, and various unflattering, candid photos of Eddie flashed on the screen. "You're a dick," Cooper began to rap. "Eddie Diaz, a big fucking prick!"

"Is he _rapping?_ " Adriana demanded.

"I came to the 118 and what do you know, this motherfucker thinks he runs the show—"

Adriana and Sophia both snorted with laughter at the same time, but when Adriana glanced at Eddie and realised he was bright red with fury, she quickly turned the video off. "If it's any consolation," she said to him, "I don't think that's quite good enough to go viral."

Maddie was shaking her head, texting furiously on her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Sophia asked curiously.

"I'm messaging Hen; she's looking through the videos as well," she replied. "Eddie, you should call Buck again."

Eddie nodded, looking down at his phone, before lifting his head to meet Adriana's eyes. "I think you know how much I hate this," he said to her, and she nodded seriously. "How many people are watching his videos?"

"He's hardly got any followers," Sophia replied. "Like, less than two hundred people. And he's only doing this on TikTok, from what we can see."

"None of his videos have many views," Adriana said, scrolling down the screen. "Hardly anything."

"So if… we get him to stop, and take the videos down," Eddie said quietly, "hardly anyone is going to know."

"Right," Adriana said sympathetically. "Eddie, it's going to be okay. Maddie's already told Hen. Buck's probably asleep – oh, look, he's going live now. Hopefully he'll tell us exactly what he plans to do."

Cooper's face loomed into view on the television screen, and he was clearly not in Buck's room – he was walking along the busy city street, cutting through people, looking a little drunk.

"Hey guys," he said into the camera. "What's up? I'm here in beautiful Dallas. I went out and got a little drunk after the physical stuff this morning – check out my Instagram for videos. I didn't do a vlog today – was feeling a little under the weather last night. I'm off my game! I can see some people have joined the live… hey guys. Feel free to shoot me any questions; I've got about a five minute walk to the hotel – oops," he said as he tripped over something out of shot. "Ask me anything you want!"

Adriana immediately began to type on her phone. _Yo r u in town with that hot guy from your station?_

Eddie tried Buck again, hoping that the insistent vibration from his phone would magically wake him up.

Cooper's face loomed on the television in an extreme close-up – Maddie groaned with disgust – as he read Adriana's message. "Oh hey Adriana – wow, you're pretty," he murmured.

"Don't I know it," Adriana remarked, adjusting her ponytail.

"Um yeah, Buck's here. Well, he's at the hotel. I kinda made a fool of myself last night," Cooper said, sweat dripping down his face. "I was trying to impress him and it backfired… and then this morning I was still feeling really sick, so I couldn't impress him at the challenges either. He did really well though. He's so handsome. I really miss being his friend, you know? Like… when I first started, he would talk to me… now he just ignores me. And I know I did it, but like, I miss him. I just wish he knew how I felt about him; I really want to tell him."

Adriana sent through a response. _Why don't u?_

"Adriana," Maddie warned.

She shrugged at them, as he read her message and replied, "Well, that's the plan, Adriana! God, you've got a pretty name."

"It's true," Adriana agreed. "I do have a pretty name."

They all let out a hiss in unison when he very clearly tripped over a flower bed and almost tumbled to the ground. "He is so drunk," Maddie murmured.

"That's no excuse," Eddie muttered, trying Buck over and over. "This fucking guy."

"Buck's not in any danger, you know," Sophia reassured him. "He's not going to do anything."

Eddie sighed, irritated. "I know – listen, I know. He's a gigantic dumbass," he said, as Cooper audibly farted on camera and tried to blame it on a car backfiring. "But I just want to talk to Buck – he needs to know, because… he's too damn sympathetic to the guy, and if he goes knocking on his door, Buck's going to be nice to him."

"Because he's a nice boy," Maddie said, her lower lip sticking out. "But you're right, this guy is a mess. How is he holding down a job?"

"I'm guessing he doesn't drink like this when he's in town. His ego is probably bruised," Sophia said, as they watched Cooper stagger across the street. "He probably had an idea in his head of how this would go, and he's completely blown it. We are looking at a broken man."

Adriana glanced at Sophia and said in a low voice, "But honestly, this is genuinely one of the most tragically funny things I have ever seen in my whole life and before he deletes all his videos, you and I are going to download everything."

Sophia held up her phone. "What do you think I've been doing? I got the Eddie rap first."

Eddie sighed, shaking his head, trying Buck again. "I'm going to call the hotel if he doesn't pick up soon."

"I'll call Chimney," Maddie suggested. "He'll go knock on the door and wake him up."

Cooper had made it back to the hotel, and was stumbling through the lobby. Once he was in the elevator, he said into the camera, "Well, you know what? I'm feeling pretty confident. I'm going to go talk to him tonight and tell him how I really feel. I'm like, super clear-headed," he said, though he was definitely slurring his words. "And if I just sit him down and tell him, hey, Buck, you're like, the love of my life and like, you should leave your husband for me – I think he'd really respond to that."

All three women turned to Eddie with high eyebrows, but he was searching the website of the hotel for the phone number, trying to control his temper. "You can't call this hotel directly," he muttered. "It's just a number for their call centre. This is bullshit. What if you need to reach someone urgently?"

"Cell phones," Adriana remarked. "He's on the floor. Let's see what he does."

They watched as Cooper began to march unsteadily down the hallway. He was holding the phone in his hand, with the camera pointing up, so all they could see was the ceiling and walls, and occasionally his face would pop in and out of frame. He finally came to a stop and said, "Okay guys. I'm gonna tell him. Wish me luck."

"Oh no," Adriana and Sophia said at the same time. Maddie was furiously texting someone, and Eddie tried Buck again, outwardly calm, but inwardly planning all of the ways he was going to murder Cooper the next time he saw him.

* * *

Buck awoke with a start to insistent knocking on his door, and sat up, confused, glancing at the time on the digital clock on the bedside table. He'd been having the weirdest dream about a buzzing bee following him around, and the knocking startled him enough that he barely registered the fact that his phone was vibrating insistently on the bedside table.

There was another urgent knock, and he threw the covers off, rubbing his eyes, flicking on a light. "Chim?" he called, yawning as he wandered over to answer it. "Is that you?"

He should've taken a look through the peephole first, because opening the door revealed the person he least wanted to see. Cooper had his phone clutched in his hand, and he leaned against the doorframe and said, "Buck, hey, I'm sorry… I just really need to talk to you. I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?" Buck asked him – Cooper was dressed in the same clothes from the morning. He was sweaty, dishevelled, very clearly drunk, and on the verge of tears. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," Cooper said miserably. "Can I come in?"

Buck hesitated, and then, against his better judgment, stepped aside. "Okay, just for a minute. I'll get you a glass of water."

"Thanks, man," Cooper murmured. "Thanks a lot."

* * *

Eddie was on his feet, pacing back and forth, watching as a very confused, visibly tired and shirtless Buck let Cooper into his hotel room.

"Is he going to live stream this whole thing?" Adriana asked disbelievingly.

As if on cue, Cooper fumbled with the phone, and the live stream went dead. Adriana turned to Sophia, who shrugged. Maddie had her phone to her ear, calling someone, and Eddie was desperately trying to reach Buck.

"He's not going to do anything," Adriana said to him, but he just shook his head at her, too worked up to respond. "Eddie! It's Buck. Stop panicking."

"He doesn't want Buck to be in the position of having to tell the drunk guy no," Sophia guessed. "Buck is too nice and empathetic, and he'll want to help. Right?"

Eddie nodded at her, a lump in his throat. "Yes," he said, his voice clenched. "I just want to tell Buck what's going on. He has no idea."

* * *

Buck handed Cooper a bottle of water from the mini-bar and stood to the side with his arms folded across his chest. Cooper swayed back and forth as he downed the entire bottle, letting out a burp when he was finished. "Thanks," he said, wiping his mouth. "That's better."

"Okay, you good?" Buck asked. "You got your key?"

Cooper patted his pocket, nodding, and then gazed at Buck beseechingly. "I love you," he said suddenly. "I love you. I'm in love with you."

He dismissed it instantly. Cooper was drunk. "No, you don't," he replied. "Because you know I'm a happily married man."

"Buck – _Evan_ ," Cooper said imploringly, and Buck couldn't help but cringe away from him. "You're the most amazing man I've ever met in my life. I worship the ground you walk on, man. I'd do anything for you. I know I keep messing this up; I know you're mad at me… and I know Eddie's got some kind of hold over you, but like, I'm here, and like, if you loved me? I would love you back _so hard_."

Buck let out a breath, and suddenly realised he was shirtless. He stepped away from Cooper, shaking his head, grabbing his discarded shirt from the back of an armchair. As he pulled it on he realised that his phone was vibrating on the bedside table, and leaned over to grab it.

Cooper was staring at him with huge eyes. "Please, tell me you feel the same?" he asked hopefully. "That you love me too?"

Eddie's picture was flashing on the screen. Buck answered the call, but before he held the phone to his ear he said, "Coop, I need you to listen to me and understand something, okay? I'm sorry you feel this way, because I'm never going to reciprocate it. At all. Eddie is the love of my life. He's my soul mate," he said emphatically, as Cooper's face fell. "There is nobody else on this planet that I ever want to be with. Do you understand me?"

"But… but…"

"No," he said firmly, and then held the phone to his ear. "Eddie."

"You okay?" Eddie sounded tense. "He was live-streaming on TikTok. I know he's in your room."

"I'm okay." Buck had his eyes trained on Cooper, who had slumped into the armchair despondently. "He was live-streaming?"

"Yeah, but not anymore. I've been trying to call you for half an hour."

Buck nodded. "Okay, just hang on," he said to Eddie, and then lowered the phone. "Coop, you need to get out, right now. Right this minute, or I'll have to tell Bobby."

Cooper was weeping. "I can't believe you don't feel the same way," he moaned. "I just want to be with you."

Buck sighed, tired and irritated. "You really need to leave, Coop. Seriously, man."

"I thought we'd come out here together and you'd… like, realise how awesome I am," Cooper groaned, "but I fucked it all up. I could eat that whole thing, you know? Like… I thought that would impress you?"

Buck had no idea how to respond, but thankfully, there was an urgent knock at his door, and Bobby called, "Buck? Are you okay?"

"Bobby's here," Buck said to Eddie, hurrying to answer the door. "How—"

"Maddie called Hen, Hen called Athena," Eddie replied. "We were worried about you."

"Sending in the cavalry," Buck said, impressed, and opened the door. Bobby and Chimney were both waiting outside, dressed in their sleepwear, wearing matching frowns. "Come on in. Please get him out of my room."

They filed past him and into the room, and Cooper looked up at them blearily. "Oh god," he groaned, rubbing his face with his hand. "Fuck."

Bobby heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "My wife has just phoned me from Los Angeles, because you have been live-streaming your night on the internet and talking about how you're going to tell Buck that you're in love with him," he said tiredly. "And she was worried that you might try to do something stupid."

"I didn't do anything," Cooper said tearfully. "I just wanted to tell him."

"Buck's married," Chimney said, folding his arms across his chest. "What the fuck are you thinking, man? This was never going to end well."

Cooper shrugged, swallowing hard. "I just… wish someone loved me."

Buck cringed, turning away from him, embarrassed beyond belief. "Eds?" he murmured into the phone.

"I'm here," Eddie said in his ear. "It's okay. This isn't your fault."

Bobby rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. "I've given you a hundred chances. I don't know what you're thinking; I don't know what to do with you anymore. I'm going to send you back to LA tomorrow. I really think you need some professional help. What would your mother say about this, Cooper?"

"Don't call my mom, Cap!" Cooper begged. "Please!"

He sighed. "I'm not calling her – but I want you to think about how disappointed she'd be," he said sharply. "This isn't how you should conduct yourself, and I think you know that."

Cooper sniffled, wiping his runny nose.

"Apparently there are videos that you've been taking at the station?" Bobby asked, and at that, Cooper's face fell. "I think you know how I feel about this. I'm going to review everything with the Chief, and we will be making a decision about your future next week. But for now, you need to go back to your room, sober up, and pack your bags. You'll be on a flight home in the morning."

Cooper began to cry. "Please, please – I just want to be a firefighter—"

"Right now, I don't think you are capable of doing this job," Bobby said bluntly. "You're not making good decisions. You've alienated your teammates and you're embarrassing the Department. You need to sort yourself out; get your life in order, and start growing up."

Cooper sucked in a shuddering breath, and looked over at Buck. "I really do love you."

Buck just shook his head uncomfortably.

Chimney let out a low whistle, folding his arms across his chest. "I hate to tell you this, kid, but our Buckaroo is a taken man. Has been ever since the day Eddie set foot in the 118."

"Amen to that," Eddie said in his ear, and Buck grinned.

Bobby was still focused on Cooper. "I'm really disappointed in you, Cooper."

Cooper nodded, letting out a shaky sigh. "Yeah," he said quietly. "You're not gonna be the only one."

~

Bobby and Chimney extracted Cooper from his room and left him on his own again, and Buck sat down on the end of the bed, calling Eddie on Facetime.

"Hey," Eddie answered, his smiling face filling the phone screen. "Hi baby."

"Hey," he replied, exhausted. "You're going to bed now?"

"Yeah, I left the girls watching _Grease_ ," he replied as he climbed the stairs to their bedroom. "It's been a hell of a night."

"I know. I'm sorry I crashed out and didn't hear the phone."

"It's not your fault." The screen went dark for a second, and then Eddie flipped the light on in their bedroom, closed the door and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Buck nodded, rolling onto his stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine… confused, but fine. You'll fill me in on everything tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I will. Sophia and Adriana saved all the videos he made. I didn't watch all of them, but Sophia said that he is tragically obsessed with you and needs to get some help, so Bobby's not wrong there." Eddie bit his lip, and then said, "I want him to get fired."

"I guess that's up to Bobby and the Chief," Buck said, and couldn't stop a huge yawn from bursting out. "Oh god, I'm exhausted."

"I bet you are. You want to stay on the phone with me all night tonight? Sleep next to each other?"

Buck smiled sleepily at him. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll put the charge on and I can just… be here if you need me," Eddie said softly.

"Okay," Buck agreed, and yawned again. "I'm so tired."

"Me too. Let's get some rest."

Buck climbed back into bed and flipped the lamp off, plugging his phone into the charge before laying it on the pillow beside him. The screen was illuminated while Eddie settled himself in bed, but it went dark, and Eddie's voice came through softly.

"Goodnight, baby."

Buck was almost asleep, but he murmured back, "Goodnight, my love."

~

Bobby arranged an early morning flight for Cooper back to Los Angeles. He was placed on suspension, and Bobby already had a meeting scheduled in with the Chief to discuss his future.

"I need to review the videos, obviously," Bobby said wearily, and sipped his cup of coffee. "But I can't face that until we get back."

"Maddie says they're not offensive, just… embarrassing," Chimney replied, and when Bobby gave him a questioning look, he clarified, "For Cooper. Not for the Department. It's more like… vlogs where he lies about how much he lifts in a day. And he took credit for a bunch of stuff Eddie did."

Buck shook his head disapprovingly. "I don't get this," he said to them. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Chimney reassured him. "Look – he's young, he's not bright, and you're _you_."

"Yeah, but what does that mean?" he asked. "I'm just myself. I didn't treat him any differently."

Bobby gave Buck a long look. "Maybe it's not _you_ ," he said delicately. "Maybe he sees what you and Eddie have, and he wants something similar. You two are very close; you're always together."

"Making out in the shower room as if you think we don't know what you're up to," Chimney murmured, arching an eyebrow at Buck.

Buck grinned. "Do me a favour, and never mention that in front of Eddie. He likes to live in denial."

"Oh, like we don't see you holding hands on the couch," Bobby said dryly.

"He's okay with that; just don't mention the making out." Buck sipped his coffee, rolling his shoulders. "Seriously – I didn't… do anything, did I? To encourage this?"

"No," they said together.

"You haven't even been alone with him since the pier incident," Chimney pointed out. "You took a step back. Look, he'll get over it. I think realistically he knew that nothing was ever going to happen – anyone can see that you and Eddie only have eyes for each other."

"Buck, I would tell you if I was worried about anything you were doing," Bobby reassured him. "And I'm not. You were doing a great job of training him, and I have no doubt you'll do a great job when we have a new probie. I trust you. You know that."

Buck blushed, quickly ducking his head. "Thanks, Cap."

"Although I think you and Eddie are both going to hear about these clock videos for a while," he added ruefully.

Confused, Buck glanced at Chimney, whose brow was furrowed. "Clock videos?" he asked. "What clock videos?"

Bobby blinked at them. "Online? The videos? Tick tock? Is… it's a clock thing? Something to do with clocks?"

Chimney bit down hard on his lip, shaking his head, trying not to laugh. "No," he replied gently. "No, Bobby. It's not."

"Oh. Then what videos am I going to be reviewing when we get back?" Bobby asked, completely baffled.

"Ask May and Harry," Buck advised, glancing over as a familiar figure walked into the hotel buffet. "Hey, Texas!"

"Hollywood!" Judd called, strolling over to them. "Listen, these lectures are going to be boring as hell today so what I'm thinking is that you and I – hey, Captain Nash – you and I sneak out early and go bowling, what do you say?"

Buck laughed, glancing at Bobby, who said mildly, "Well, only if it's Los Angeles versus Austin. This afternoon? You find the lanes; we'll be there."

"Deal," Judd said with a grin. "We're gonna kick your ass. Catch you later, Hollywood!"

When he was out of earshot, Chimney said to Bobby, "So how long do you think it will take before he realises you're a secret bowling whiz?"

"About five minutes," Buck said with a chuckle. "This is gonna be _great._ "

* * *

By the time Tuesday rolled around, Cooper's tenure at the 118 was over. His mother had been by to empty his locker, and his name had already been stripped from the wall – his position vacant, ready for the next probie. He was still on suspension – indefinitely – but the decision had already been made that he wouldn't be returning to the 118. Whether he was going to remain in the LAFD or not was a decision for the Chief – Eddie was just relieved to finally have him out of their hair. He walked into work on the Monday morning and was immediately bamboozled by Hen _and_ Athena, who'd stopped by just to hear from him directly what had happened with Buck.

Adriana flew back to El Paso late Sunday afternoon, so the house was almost back to normal, but Eddie was desperate for Buck to arrive home. Their flight was scheduled to land at 12pm on the Tuesday, and Eddie was full of excited energy, waiting for his phone to buzz with the message that Buck was back in LA.

Sure enough, at 12.05, Buck sent him through a picture of the Los Angeles skyline. _Coming for you Eds_

Eddie guessed he meant that they'd see each other at home, once he'd finished his shift, but as they rolled back into the station after a call-out, he spotted a familiar figure lounging against the wall near the locker room. Eddie wasted no time leaping out of the truck, ignoring Hen's amused laughter, disregarding everything as he made a beeline for him.

"Howdy, stranger," Buck greeted him, letting out a _'oof_ ' as Eddie collided with him in a desperate hug. 

"Baby," he breathed, holding him close. "Thank god you're back."

"He's only been gone a few days!" Hen shouted at them as they embraced, but Buck simply laughed at her and pulled Eddie through the locker room and into the showers for some privacy.

"Hey," Eddie whispered, brushing a kiss to his lips once the door was closed. "I missed you."

Buck nodded, an arm around his shoulders, leading him towards the back of the room. "I missed you too," he replied, pushing him into the stall at the end and closing the door. "I really fucking missed you."

Their lips met in a crushing kiss – Buck's hands slid across his back and down to his ass, pushing him against the wall. Eddie hooked his arms around Buck's neck and clutched at him, breathing out a laugh when they parted, only to have his lips claimed again urgently.

"Boys," Hen suddenly called, startling them both. "Do not have sex in here."

Buck broke away long enough to retort, "We're not!" before kissing him again.

~

Eddie arrived home in the early evening to find a familiar scene – Buck, in his sweats, cooking dinner at the stove while Christopher did his homework at the table, Max sitting beside him. Sophia and the kids were in the living room, and Eddie greeted them before joining his family in the kitchen, planting a quick kiss on the top of Christopher's head before slipping his arms around Buck's waist and hugging him from behind.

Buck leaned against him. "Hey."

"Hey." Eddie rested his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes. "Glad you're back."

"Me too. Now you're home, you can open your present."

"Buck got me a shirt and an armadillo," Christopher said proudly.

"An armadillo?" Eddie asked, and Buck nodded.

"He requested an armadillo, didn't you, bud? I found one; I had to go to a bunch of gift shops but I found one." Buck was making chilli, and when Eddie leaned over to smell the saucepan, Buck gave him a spoonful to try. "Nice?"

Eddie nodded, licking his lips. "Delicious."

"Good." Buck smiled at him. "Your present is upstairs on the bed. Go and open it."

Eddie glanced at Christopher, and then said in a low voice, "It's a… PG present?"

Buck laughed. "Yes."

"Okay. Be right back." Eddie jogged up the stairs and found a plastic bag on the end of their bed. He opened it and found a tank top with the words ' _World's Hottest Fireman_ ' printed on it, complete with flames, and chuckled to himself. He changed out of his clothes and into a pair of sweats and the tank, and padded back downstairs, pausing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Happy?"

Buck grinned at him, nodding approvingly. "Oh yeah - come here, hot stuff."

"Ew," Christopher complained, but they ignored him, and embraced with a kiss.

~

Eddie was anxious to go to bed, but Christopher wanted them both to linger his room, listening to him read from a book called _Beyond the Bright Sea_. Buck was in between them, one arm around each of their shoulders, listening with a smile on his face as Christopher read to them until he was almost falling asleep.

"We'll finish tomorrow," Eddie promised him in a whisper. "Goodnight, kiddo."

Christopher nodded, and when he was alone in the bed, Max jumped over from the cat tree and made himself comfortable at the top of the bed, purring in Christopher's ear loudly as he drifted off to sleep.

They left his room, made sure the house was secure and the alarm system was on, before heading upstairs to their bedroom. Buck's lips were on his even before the door was closed, and he lifted Eddie's feet off the floor briefly, before backing him up and to the bed. Eddie sat on the edge, with Buck leaning over him.

"Finally alone," Buck whispered, cupping his face. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Eddie said, busily undoing the drawstring on Buck's sweats. "God, I missed you so much. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; totally fine." Buck pulled his shirt over his head, and it was then that Eddie discovered his second, secret present – a new nipple ring. It was a silver bar with a glittering black stone at either end, and Buck cupped the back of his head when Eddie leaned in and pressed his lips to it reverently.

He looked up at him, and Buck grinned, bending over to kiss him again. Their tongues brushed together, and all his worries and tension seemed to melt away. He rid Buck of his pesky pants, and held his arms over his head so Buck could remove his tank top. Buck's hands slid across his chest, down over his stomach, and Eddie dropped onto his back and lifted his hips so Buck could pull his sweats down and off.

Eddie pulled him in for another kiss, desperate for him. Buck covered him, one knee between his legs, and broke away long enough to pepper Eddie's face with tiny kisses until he was laughing, his head turned to the side, one arm thrown around Buck's neck.

"I know it was only a few days," Buck said in his ear, his lips dragging across Eddie's earlobe, "but it was torture."

"Aw, baby," Eddie murmured, holding him close. "This bed was so empty without you."

Buck hummed in his ear, one hand slipping down, stroking Eddie's cock with practiced ease. "Know what I was thinking about?"

Eddie nipped at his jaw and whispered, " _Me._ "

"Yep, _just like this_ ," Buck hissed, dropping his head to suck on Eddie's nipple, hard. Eddie inadvertently raked his fingernails down Buck's back and he shivered, lifting his head, a glint in his eyes.

Eddie arched an eyebrow, teasing him, and Buck twisted the hand around his cock to make him gasp. Their lips met again, and once Eddie had his arms around Buck, he easily flipped them so that he was on top, dragging his tongue down Buck's chin, his neck, his chest and to his nipple, playing with the nipple ring with his tongue and teeth. Buck pushed both hands through Eddie's hair, his chest rising and falling, and when Eddie dropped down lower to wrap his lips around his cock, he stretched a hand out to the bedside table to retrieve the lube. He tossed it towards Eddie, and then lay back on the bed, twisting his fingers in Eddie's hair while he sucked and teased him with his tongue.

Eddie slicked up his fingers and began to work him open, desperate for him. Buck was gasping – tugging at his hair, trying and failing to keep his hips under control.

"I'm not going to last," he suddenly said – but that was just fine. Eddie crooked his fingers, found his prostate, and began to stroke it with intent, his cheeks hollowing as he sucked his cock until Buck was writhing beneath him, shaking, and finally finding his release with a muffled cry.

Eddie lifted his head, swallowing, glancing up to see the results of his hard work – Buck, flushed red, an arm thrown over his mouth, completely slack beneath him.

"You look beautiful," Eddie said, and Buck caught his breath, blinking at him. "So beautiful."

"Only for you," Buck managed to say, groaning as Eddie added a fourth finger. "Oh god, that's enough, just fuck me."

Eddie shook his head, perched between his legs, working his fingers in and out. "Bossy."

Buck grinned at him. "Yeah, I am. Oh god, that feels good. Please, Eddie… please, please?"

Eddie drizzled some lube onto his cock and slicked himself up – Buck chewed his bottom lip, staring at his cock with hungry eyes. "What do you want?" he asked Buck.

"You know what I want; just _fuck me before I die_ ," Buck said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you're dying? You're on death's door?" Eddie teased him, and stroked a finger against his prostate again.

Buck shuddered, nodding desperately. "If you don't fuck me right now," he warned, "I'll die."

"Well, we wouldn't want that," Eddie murmured, withdrawing his fingers and almost immediately replacing them with his cock – Buck's jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and a long moan came from deep inside him.

Eddie adjusted himself, gave Buck a moment, running his hands up and down his chest reassuringly. With Buck spread open, smirking up at him wantonly, Eddie began to rock his hips back and forth, totally focused on the tight heat surrounding him. Their eyes locked, and Eddie watched the changing expressions on Buck's face as they moved together on the mattress, completely transfixed.

He lost time when they were like this – consumed with each other, kissing and touching as they made love. Soon Buck was hard again, his cock trapped between them – his hands were roaming Eddie's body, cupping his face, sliding up and down his back and sides, fingers digging into soft skin whenever Eddie made contact with his prostate.

Somehow they'd mastered the art of almost silent love-making, though Buck was whimpering against Eddie's lips and gasping with each thrust, his hips tilted up, legs hooked around Eddie's waist. They kissed desperately, and Buck let out a strangled moan when Eddie changed the angle of his thrust again, losing control, trying to hold on as long as he could.

"Baby," Eddie breathed against his lips. "Come for me."

"No, not yet, just keep going," Buck managed to say. "Fuck me."

So Eddie took a moment to collect himself and then complied, rocking his hips back and forth, over and over, until they were shaking together. He lifted his head, staring down into Buck's bright blue eyes – his lips swollen, face sweaty – and then reached down between them to stroke his cock. "Come," he whispered, and Buck sucked in a breath, shaking his head.

"Eddie," Buck said, his voice strained. "Please… remember when we first got together, remember how you used to – oh, fuck – remember how you were so fucking jealous? I give you permission, please… I want to hear you say it."

Eddie nodded, releasing Buck's cock. He pushed both his hands up and over his head, and fucked him with short, sharp strokes as he gazed into his eyes determinedly and said, "You're mine. My husband. _Mine._ "

Buck's grin was almost feral, and he nodded emphatically. " _Yours_."

"To think he thought he had a fucking _chance_ —"

"You're the only one I ever want," Buck said breathlessly, "for my whole life. Oh god, Eddie—"

Eddie cut him off with a hungry kiss, grinding inside him the way he liked, and when they parted for air he again growled, " _Mine_." Buck let out a strangled cry and came, lifting off the bed, his body shuddering. The look of bliss on his face was more than enough for Eddie, who followed almost instantly. His orgasm rolled through from the tip of his toes all the way up, until he had nothing left but to collapse on top of Buck, who cupped his cheeks with both hands and kissed him adoringly.

When they'd both caught their breath, Eddie lifted his head, and found Buck smiling up at him. "Darling," he whispered, stroking his thumb and forefinger across Eddie's cheek. "My darling. I love you."

He nodded, suddenly on the verge of tears, filled with so much love and devotion he could hardly speak. "I love you too," he finally managed to say, his voice hoarse.

Buck continued rubbing his cheek gently, and then said sweetly, "Thank you for having my back, even when we're not together."

Eddie licked his lips, nodding again solemnly, and whispered like a vow, " _Always."_

~the end, for now~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re Cooper - he's not coming back, I promise. The guy has been transferred in disgrace - he's going to end up at a station full of dudebros, find himself a nice boyfriend, then get dumped; find a nice girlfriend and then get dumped again, until he basically ends up sleeping his way through the LA singles population on Tinder for a few years. Then his mom decides to move to Seattle because the climate is much nicer and it's a lot cheaper, and he has to go with her, because like, what else is he gonna do? So he ends up in Seattle, and he ultimately finds a nice girl willing to put up with his shit and have his babies (his mom doesn't like her, but they do eventually end up forming an uneasy truce). They settle for each other, but she posts a lot on Facebook about how blissfully happy they are, and she also has one of those recipe blogs where she waffles on a lot about her life, and having kids, and the importance of marriage before she actually gives the fucking recipe, and they're relatively happy together. They make family YouTube videos and he thinks he's really funny, but they only have like, fifty followers, and most of them are family members.
> 
> And that's it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Kat ([cinematicnomad](https://cinematicnomad.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr) for all your help!
> 
> The title is from [Burning Love - Elvis Presley](https://youtu.be/zf2VYAtqRe0)
> 
> Talk to me @ Tumblr: [woodchoc-magnum](https://woodchoc-magnum.tumblr.com/) \- my inbox is open!


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